Darkness Rising: New Legends Born
by DonnyFire
Summary: Two decades following the events of LOS: DotD, a young black dragon arrives in a new town. Both his parents had mysteriously disappeared and he is forced to live out on his own. But the darkness is rising again and the world is in need of a new hero. Can our young dragon uncover his past and become that hero?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

 **Hello everyone! This my first story that I've ever written. This story takes place in the Legend of Spyro Universe following a new dragon that just wants to be a hero. At this point, some of your critiques and reviews will heavily influence how I write this story since I have no experience writing these stories. I'm not at all talented when it comes to making a narrative story, but I was inspired by the LOS games to make this story. I will be releasing these chapters one, maybe two at a time.**

It was early in the morning when the young, black dragon awoke from his dreams. He opened his eyes to only be blinded from the light in his room. He covered his eyes with his wing as they began to tear up.

" I hate it when it does that, "the black dragon thought.

When they cleared, He sat up and looked around the room. The room was built out of cobblestone, with a red and black checkered rug surrounding his bed. When he got up, the wooden floorboard was cold against his feet, and he shivered slightly. When he looked around, he noticed the book he was reading last night. He closed the book and looked at its title, "The Legend of Spyro."

"Hmm, I wish I could be like Spyro. He's my hero. Someday I'll be exactly like him, keeping everyone around me safe." He smiled lightly as he put the book away and walked out onto the balcony.

The mountains in the distance were faded into the background with a light orange hue but looked so vividly detailed. He could see every tree, rock, and creature residing on the mountain. The wind was cool, relaxing, and even made him feel as though he was still asleep. "I could look at this forever," he said as he sighed with satisfaction. "But, I want to get know some of the folk around the town, and maybe make some new friends. That is the first step of my journey."

The dragon looked over the balcony. "Maybe I should give flying a shot while I'm here." He never tried flying before, since he had no parents to teach him. He jumped up the railing and looked out over the town. The height between town and his house made him a bit nervous, so he changed his mind. He wasn't confident enough to attempt to fly, so he jumped back into the house and went downstairs to eat breakfast. As he sat down at the table he looked up to see a painting of black dragoness on the wall. He looked on in sorrow. "I miss you, Mom, " he said as he felt a single tear roll down his face. He wiped the tear away as he got up from the table went out for the day.

…

It was beautiful outside. The town seemed to glow with a light golden aura, making everyone look so happy. The paved road stretched on for a long time, and there were houses as far as he could see. As he walked down the street, he introduced himself to every dragon he saw. He tried to say hello to a dragoness, but he was too nervous to try. The light reflecting off their scales gave them a beautiful shine. He would feel embarrassed as he walked by one since his cheeks flushed red. So he just kept walking, pretending to mind his business. He continued down the road until he stumbled upon the town park entrance. Then a thought came to mind, "You know what, I've been walking for a while, maybe I should go and sit down and maybe take a nap. Actually, that's exactly what I'm going to do." He headed into the park.

He calmly strolled down the paved path, enjoying himself as he watched the baby dragons around the park play games such as Hide-and-Go-Seek and Tag around him.

"Tag, you're it!"

"Come on! That's not fair!"

He saw two baby dragons, a red and yellow, running around trying to catch each other. He chuckled to himself. He had reached a bench to sleep on when something caught his attention. It was sunny outside, but he suddenly felt cold. He looked around to see a light blue dragon, spraying ice from his mouth. The black dragon's eyes widened. He had never seen anyone use elemental breath before. He wanted to learn how he did it, so he quickly sprinted over to the stranger.

"Wow! How did you do that?! When did you learn how to do that?! Can you teach me how to use mine?" The dragon asked with child-like excitement. He felt like he could learn a lot from this dragon if he could convince him.

He looked at him with enthusiasm, before the ice dragon turned to look at the black dragon. "Really? You don't know how to use yours? Wait, your name's Dawn right?"

" Yeah that's my- Wait, how do you know my name? I haven't met you before." The youthful dragon looked on questioningly.

"A bunch of dragons has told me about you." The blue dragon introduced himself, " Anyways, my name is Frost, nice to meet you!" Frost is one of the most well-known dragons in the town, due to his father being the former ice guardian of the land and his fierce fighting ability. Most kids his age never talked to him because of how afraid of him they were. Dawn was unaware of how vicious this dragon was.

"Hi, Frost! It's so nice to meet you," The black dragon said as he felt like he had made his first friend.

"You know I've heard a bunch of my friends say that you're a really strong dragon and that you want to be a hero."

"Yeah I wanna be a hero, but I'm not that str-." The blue dragon suddenly swung his spade-like tail and hit Dawn directly in the gut. The wind rushed out of his lungs, and it felt as though his throat had swollen up, making it difficult to breathe. His knees buckled from underneath him, as he puked up his own breakfast. "Hmm, guess you were right, you are a lot weaker than I thought you were. Most dragons I know and even those I don't know usually see that coming." Dawn struggled to get to his feet as Frost put his paw on his neck, applying pressure, and pushing his face into the ground. "Seriously, one attack and you're already on your knees, you are so disappointing." Dawn tried to speak, but he was still recovering from Frost's tail attack from earlier. The ice dragon slowly started to get irritated at the young dragon kept trying to wiggle and squirm away. He pushed back even harder against the young dragon's neck.

"Stay down! This is where you belong, in the dirt and beneath me! Just like the rest of these peasants!" Dawn struggled to breathe as Frost suddenly released him.

When the black dragon was getting up, Frost swiped and hit him across his face, leaving a mark.

Dawn felt tears in his eyes from the pain. Frost saw his tears and felt his face heat up in anger. He saw crying as a weakness, whether you could control it or not. His frustration reached a boiling point as he started whipping the black dragon again, and again, and again with his tail to release his frustrations.

"Get up! God, you are so pathetic! Crying will get you no sympathy from me. I'm the son of the former ice guardian. You have no right to speak to me!" Everyone else, including the children, stopped and looked on in horror as the young black dragon was beaten and embarrassed right in front of them. Frost stopped and picked him up off the ground by his throat, letting everyone see his brutally gashed and bloodied face. "Stop crying!" He stared deep and furiously into Dawn's eyes.

"Get out of my sight, or you'll regret ever meeting me." He released him by throwing him onto the ground. Frost threw at him one more insult, "You'll never be a hero!" As he was leaving, Dawn stumbled a bit and felt his world rocking back and forth from the blood loss. It took all his willpower to get back up and leave the park.

Frost exhaled cold air and turned back to the dummy he was hitting. "Pathetic," the dragon thought as he continued training.


	2. Chapter 2

"So, what exactly happened?" A white dragoness was treating a patient in her home. The room was enhanced with a calming aroma, from the candles and plants that resided in the room. The room had a couple of beds for the patients. The day had recently been very uneventful, with very few people looking for treatment.

"Well, I was playing tag with a couple of my friends when I tripped and cut my knee on one of the branches on the ground."

The white dragoness looked at the cut the young one had on his knee. The branch definitely broke through his forest green scales, but it wasn't a deep cut. She just used some herbs to cover the wound.

"There, the wound should heal in no time, just be more careful around the park next time, ok?"

"Ok!"

Now… what do you say after someone does something nice for you?

"Oh! Thank you, Ms. Amethyst!"

"Your welcome, now go out have some fun with your friends."

The young dragon got up and left with a smile on his face. His scales almost seemed to resonate with excitement. Amethyst smiled as she made another dragon's day just that much better. She sat down as she continued to read a book about the history of dragons. She had just finished reading a section about the Dark Master's former general when a knock came from the door right before a sudden thud.

She suddenly looked up in surprise, closed the book, and rushed to the door. When she opened the door, she was met with shock as a bloodied, black dragon had collapsed on her doorstep.

"Oh my goodness!" She quickly picked him up and carried him over to one the beds and gently laid him down. The dragon's face was covered with deep cuts and too many bruises to count. The worst of the injuries were on his chest and his side, with gashes that almost looked bone deep.

"Who could've have done this?" She laid her paw on his chest. His breathing felt forced and irregular. Her paw began to glow golden as his wounds began to heal. The gashes sealed back together, as she began to grow more tired. His wounds were healed, though she didn't have enough energy to heal all his bruises. She had finished healing most of his wounds and laid down in her chair. Exhausted, she began to feel sleep envelope her mind until she saw nothing but darkness.

…

The black dragon opened his and prepared his wing to block the light from his eyes. But when he opened his eyes, all he saw was darkness. He got to his feet and looked around to see if there was anything around him. But there was nothing to see. "Hello... is anyone there?"

No response. The young dragon began to grow suspicious as he wandered. "Where am I," he wondered.

Suddenly he heard a faint, pained voice, "Help… me." Dawn looked around for the voice.

"Please…" whoever it was sounded desperate.

"Where are you?" The young dragon wanted to help.

It whimpered, "Help me… she's coming."

The black dragon turned around and was shocked by what was bleeding out in front of him. It was one of the dragon children from the park. The yellow dragoness was on the ground, covered in cuts and bruises. One of her ribs was broken, protruding from underneath her scales. The worst of the injuries is that her tail was cut off, leaving nothing but a stub leaking blood. Dawn almost puked looking at her but kept his composure. "Ok, stay calm, I'm going to get you out of here."

Before he could approach her, he heard a loud roar from the darkness. That's when he noticed two light-blue eyes staring at him, cutting through his soul. They seemed to shine almost innocently, but Dawn didn't trust them. With each step the creature took towards him, he took a step back.

Suddenly the creature stopped and switched its gaze from Dawn to injured yellow dragoness on the ground. The creature picked her up by her throat. The black dragon looked on in horror at what was about to happen. "I can't just stand here! I have to do something!" The young dragon tried to move but was paralyzed in fear. The creature raised the bladed end of its tail to the dragoness' throat.

"no…" The dragon mumbled as the blade got closer,

"No…" and closer,

"No!" till the blade was touching her neck and then… the blade whipped across her throat.

"NO!" The black dragon screamed as he burst from his slumber. The sudden noise woke the white dragoness next to him. Dawn was taking in short and shallow breaths as he became aware of his surroundings. He was in a treatment room with four different beds. The aroma coming from around him immediately began to calm him down. His breathing began to regulate itself as he realized it was nothing but a dream.

"Are you ok?!" The young dragon looked to his left to see that dragoness had rushed over to his side.

"Yeah, I-I'm ok." He stammered a bit since he was in the presence of a female dragon, but was too tired to ignore her.

"Are you sure? That was quite a scare. It sounded like a terrible nightmare. Maybe you could tell me about it?"

"I..." He couldn't bring himself to recite what he saw. "I'm sorry, I can't recall it at the moment." The white dragoness looked at him suspiciously but shrugged it off. "Ok, well, can you tell me how you sustained all those cuts and bruises from the other night?" The black dragon explained everything between him and Frost, including how Frost attacked him. "That monster! I'm sorry that he did that to you. He had no right, especially since it was the first you met him. But why would he attack you?"

The black dragon thought, "I don't know why he did it. All I know is what he did hurt… a lot." The white dragoness stood there, contemplating why Dawn was attacked. " I don't know either, but that dragon has a large ego, thinks he's untouchable. And in a way, he's right. No one is willing to go against him. He probably wanted to make sure you looked weaker than him so that you understand 'where you belong' ." The black thought about the dragoness' statement and agreed with her.

"But I don't know why he does it. He wants to be a hero, more specifically, an ice guardian." The black dragon chuckled to himself. "I wanna be a hero too. It's my dream." The white dragoness looked at the black dragon and pleasantly smiled at him.

"Well, I'm sure someday you'll reach that goal."

"Do you really think I will? What if I'm too weak to be a hero?"

"Being hero isn't always about being strong. Someday, you'll know what being a true hero means."

"Thank you." The black dragon smiled lightly.

"By the way, I never got your name." The white dragoness waited for him to respond. "Oh! I'm sorry, my name is Dawn."

The white dragoness smiled, "Nice to meet you, Dawn, my name is Amethyst. If you ever need anything, just come and visit me." The dragon nodded and headed back home.

…

As he opened the door to his house, he sighed in relief as he was finally home. He walked past his mother's painting before going upstairs. Something about the picture caught his attention. He took a closer look at the painting until he noticed something about his mother's eyes. They were… light-blue. He grew suspicious of the painting but he was too tired and it was too dark for him notice. He went upstairs, laid down in bed, and covered himself with a blanket of sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

It was early in the morning as Frost began to wake up. His eyes didn't react as badly to the light as he sat up to start his day. His room was almost as cold as he was. It appeared very empty with nothing but a bed and a fireplace as decoration. He got to his feet and began to stretch out his legs, wings, and neck. He headed downstairs to get a quick breakfast.

As he reached the bottom of the stairs, he found that his father was already at the table, eating what appeared to be a sheep leg. His father looked at him, surprised to see his son awake.

"Good morning son, I assume you came down to eat." The dark-blue dragon asked as his son walked past the table.

"No, actually, I was about to head out to continue training with some of the elders." The blue dragon tried to walk away from his father but was stopped.

"I don't get why you don't just train with me instead. I am your father after all, not to mention, I am the former ice guardian."

"Because I don't trust you," Frost mumbled.

"I'm sorry, what was that?"

"Because I don't trust you!" The ice dragon snapped, making sure his father heard him. The dragon's body was getting colder, as he grew angrier. Ice and frost began to spread from his body like a virus, consuming everything around him.

The elder dragon looked shocked. "I am your father! Why wouldn't you trust me?"

"Because, in my mind, you are not my father! A true father would've been there when I was growing up, which you didn't do! A true father would've taught me everything I know, which definitely wasn't you! It's because of you that SHE is no longer with u-."

His father couldn't take any more. "Enough!" The elder roared as he stood tall from his seat. The sight of his father's anger scared and intimidated Frost. The light blue dragon shrunk away from his father as fear struck, like an arrow, through his heart. "You have no right! No right to bring her into this! How dare you! How dare you disgrace your mother's memory!"

Frost slowly regained his composure. "Maybe she wouldn't be a memory if you were here when she died!" The light blue dragon dashed away from his father and ran outside, away from his home, in a fit of anger and frustration.

The elder sighed. " I wish I could make him understand." He sat back down as he thought about what his son said. "He's right. My blind sense of duty to this world took not only my son away from me, but also my mate. I should've been there. I should've stopped her.

…

Dawn was walking down the street when he noticed Frost training. He quickly hid out of sight so that the light blue dragon wouldn't see him. The young dragon appeared agitated as if he was trying to rip the dummy in half. Dawn was almost scared to go up to him, considering their last encounter. But he wanted to find out what was wrong.

He walked to Frost. "Hey, Frost, are you ok? It seems like something is bothering you."

The light blue dragon turned to see who had just spoken. As he turned around to see Dawn behind him, his frustration only appeared to intensify. "You again. I thought I made myself clear!" He headbutted the black dragon. The young dragon staggered back. "You have NO right to speak to me!" Frost suddenly charged at Dawn. He didn't know what to do and before he could even do anything, the raging dragon's horns impacted him square in the chest. He felt one of his ribs break as he skidded across the ground. "Even if you could, you wouldn't understand what I've gone through!"

The black dragon looked up. "Then why don't you help me understa-." Frost slammed him across the face again. He went flying across the street, slamming into a wall.

"You are below me. You don't deserve to know!" The dragon released a breath of cold air. As Dawn made it back onto his feet, the ground began to freeze and it froze his feet to the ground. The black dragon struggled to release himself as he looked up in fear at Frost.

Suddenly, spikes made of ice started puncturing the ground, each one getting closer and closer to him. He screamed just before they reached him. He closed his eyes, waiting for the eventual doom, but it never came. He opened his eyes to find the spikes in front of him destroyed… and he was flying above where he was just standing.

"What the-, I'm… I'm flying! I'm actually flying!" The dragon swooped around in excitement as he could finally take to air.

Frost looked on in disbelief from he just saw. He had launched those ice spikes, but it was suddenly blown away from a strong gust of wind. He began to grow frustrated but was too tired to continue fighting him. "I'll make you pay for this!" The dragon jumped through the air and took off into the darkness surrounding the land.

Dawn landed back on the ground with sadness in his eyes. Frost was already out of sight when he did. "I couldn't get through to him." He sighed," There's nothing else I can do for him right." Pain shot up his side. He looked at his side, noticing that one of his ribs were broken. "Crap, I'm gonna have to go Amethyst." As he began to walk home, he didn't notice the piercing, light blue eyes watching him from the darkness.


	4. Chapter 4

"Why does he act like this?" Dawn was walking to Amethyst's house. His rib was broken so he needed her help. "He's so stubborn. I'm trying to help him, but he won't listen! I wish he would, just for once in his life."

He continued to walk down the gravel path as he thought about Frost. "Ugh, who am I kidding? I don't know what he's gone through. I can't help him if I don't understand him." Then, there was a distant howl in the forest, coming from Amethyst's house. The dragon's eyes widened. "Oh no… I need to get to her now! I need to make sure she's safe!" The dragon started sprinting, picking up the pace.

...

Amethyst had closed up for the day. Her patient room was completely dark, as she laid in her bed. She continued to read about the history of dragons. But, as she read, she grew drowsy and was too tired to continue reading. She closed the book, but then there was a primal howl outside, with many other howls following after.

"Crap, the wolves are out tonight!" She looked out of her window to find an abundance of yellow eyes staring back. "And it looks like I'm the target." Her heart raced as jumped to prepare for the impending attack. She used one of her bookcases as a way to block the front door. She raced around the house, looking for a weapon to defend herself with. There was nothing for her to use.

She heard the howl just as they starting ramming her door. She looked on in fear. She had no elemental breath, so she had to survive with her own wit. Then she got an idea. She quickly ran into the patient room and hid under one of the beds. It was the best that she could do. The banging on her door grew louder and louder as more and more wolves attempted to break it down. She heard splintering as the door began to give way.

Suddenly, the door broke from its hinges and went flying across the room. The wolves walked in with saliva dripping from their jaws. They were bloodthirsty, and they wanted to spill blood tonight. As they walked in, one wolf stood taller than the rest. It was their pack leader. He looked around to find his prey.

"Find her! She could not have gone far. She was here just a few minutes ago. Bring her back to me!" The wolves spread out, searching for their supposedly elusive prey.

Amethyst held her breath, waiting for the wolves to pass her. Then, one of them started walking towards her. Her heart began to race as she felt her imminent doom approaching. Her heart peaked as the wolf reached the side of the bed. She closed her eyes and waited for the wolf to pull her out from under the bed. She opened her eyes, however, to see the wolf walk away. She sighed in relief, thinking she was safe.

"There you are!" The bed was suddenly thrown to the side. She looked up to see that the pack leader was towering over her.

He reached down to grab her. "Oh no, you don't!" She bit down into the wolf's hand, but he didn't even flinch. He grabbed her tail and drug her across the floor into the main room. She kicked and screamed, trying to break his iron grip, but to no avail.

As he reached the main room, he tossed her into the center as the pack of wolves surrounded her. They all looked hungry, but none of them pounced. Then, the leader stepped forward.

"Listen up, dragon, we are not here to kill you, no matter how badly we want to. You see, my master thinks you can help him. Your healing ability is remarkable and could be very useful to my master. He wants you to join him."

She looked on in astonishment at what she just heard. "You want me to join you?! You invade my home, put my life in danger, and you expect me to join you! You're crazy if you think I'd ever join yo-!" The wolf's claws fully extended, stopping her mid-sentence.

The wolf crouched and got close to her face. His breath smelled like rotting flesh, as he stared deep into Amethyst's emerald eyes. "Choose your next words carefully. You only have two options here. You either join us…" He put his claws up to her neck.

"or die."

She gulped as his claws touched her neck. But she refused to be intimidated. "I would rather die than join you and your crazed mutts."

The wolf looked at her and snarled. "As you wish!" He raised his claws up in the air, ready to deliver the final blow. She closed her eyes, awaiting the final blow. Then a roar erupted from outside.

"Don't touch her!" The voice sounded familiar. When she opened her eyes, she was surprised to see that Dawn had charged and rammed into the pack leader's sternum. The wolf went flying across the room as he howled in pain. The black dragon growled as the rest of the wolves circled him. He looked down at Amethyst. "I'm here. You're safe now. Are you ok?"

She still wore a look of surprise from the black dragon's sudden appearance. She snapped out of her trance and nodded dumbly. Dawn lightly smiled from the response. The black dragon looked back up at the pack surrounding him.

"None of you are going to touch her again!" He roared at the wolves, scaring them back. They looked on in fear as the young dragon looked ready to fight. Once they regained their courage, then they slowly started closing in, their snarling and barking getting louder and more frequent.

They were about to strike when they suddenly heard, "Enough!" The wolves looked on as their leader was up on his feet, bleeding from an open wound on his chest. "We're done here, let's go!" The wolves looked questioningly at their leader. "Did you not hear me? GO!" The wolves yelped as they quickly left the house. The leader, the last one to leave, turned to look back at the black dragon. "This isn't over. We will kill you." Then, the wolf dashed off into the night.

Dawn sighed and looked back at Amethyst, sitting down next her. "Are you ok?"

She didn't respond at first. It had dawned upon Amethyst that she had almost just died. She was moments away from never being able to help those in need. She tried to cope with it, but she just couldn't get the image of the wolves cutting through her out of her head. Then she heard the black dragon's voice again.

"Amethyst?" The white dragoness looked at him with a grim look on her face and immediately broke down into tears. She hugged him tightly, not wanting to let go. Dawn was surprised by the sudden contact but quickly wrapped his wing around her to comfort her.

"Th-They almost k-k..." She couldn't complete her thought. She was completely overwhelmed by her tears.

"It's ok, you're safe now. I won't let them hurt you again." She felt warm against his chest. They remained there for a while. The young dragon's heartbeat calmed her down, as she shed the last of her tears.

"Listen, I'm sorry for keeping you here for so long. You can sleep in the patient room for the night." She got up from her spot and moved her bookcase over the broken door frame, so no other creatures could sneak into the house.

As Amethyst went back into her room to sleep, Dawn went into the patient room and chose a random bed to rest in. As he laid down, he realized something.

"This is the same bed I used when I first met Amethyst. It's so... soft." He fell asleep, smiling, as he recalled the memory.

…

As the pack of wolves approached their den, they prepared for worst. As they walked into the den, they spotted the light-blue eyes of the creature inside their den. The pack leader stepped forward.

"We have failed. A black dragon appeared and thwarted our efforts." The wolf looked up, waiting for a response.

The creature spoke, "Ah, yes. The young dragon I've been following for the past few nights." It stood up. "How disappointing. You were defeated by a child! You are a disgrace to your pack, your race, and your master," it roared. "You are not fit to be Alpha." As the creature finished speaking, it's tail blade shot forward and impaled the wolf. He howled in pain. After his body convulsed for a few minutes, it suddenly went limp. The creature pulled its blade out of his corpse and looked at the rest of the pack. Using its tail, it pointed at one of the older wolves. "You… You are the new Alpha. Do not fail as your predecessor did."

The wolf stepped forward. "I won't. I refuse to fail."

The monster smirked as it licked the blood of its tail blade. "Good. I will hold you to your word."

The newly crowned Alpha nodded as the pack laid down to regain their strength and energy.

The strange creature took one last look into the sky and whispered, "I hope I won't have to remain around these weaklings for too long, master." The creature took off into the night sky, disappearing into the darkness.


	5. Chapter 5

Dawn opened his eyes to find himself again surrounded by darkness.

He growled in frustration, "Not again!" He prepared himself for the worse as he got to his feet. But as he waited, it never came. He slowly grew anxious as he waited for the nightmare to begin. "Is something going to happen?" There was silence. "Well! I'm waiting!"

"Why so frustrated?" The black dragon jumped at the sudden noise.

"Who's there?"

"A friend. I'm here to offer a deal to you for your best interest." The voice seemed to be coming from everywhere all at once.

The dragon was slightly suspicious of the mysterious voice. "How do I know I can trust you?"

"Dawn, I understand that you are very skeptical of what I'm offering. But I promise you, I am here to help you, to make you stronger! You can trust me." The voice seemed generous.

Dawn relaxed but kept his guard, ready for anything to happen. "Ok, tell me about this deal."

"You see, you have constantly been beaten and insulted by those who are favored by their circumstances. You have been unlucky, having your parents die before you even knew how to speak. You are weak compared to those you face. Always the underdog. I want to help you change that."

"Ok, yeah I'm not that strong, but how can you change that?"

"I am… educated in the ways of dragons. I can easily teach you to unlock your true potential. All you need to do is… join me." The voice's request seemed to echo through the darkness.

Something felt wrong with this voice. Dawn brushed it off. "I'm sorry, I'm not interested in power. I'll have to turn down your request." The dragon waited for a response as the silence seemingly choked the mood.

"I understand, but what if… I could bring back your parents." The black dragon seemed to freeze up as the voice mentioned his parents.

The young dragon couldn't believe what he just heard. " You… you can bring my parents back?"

A chuckle sounded from the figureless voice. "Of course! You don't deserve what has happened to you. I want to make you happy. All you have to do is join me in my cause." The black dragon began wandering, contemplating the choice he was given.

He responded. "I'm… I'm not sure."

The voice spoke again, with a hint of frustration in his voice. "What is there to not be sure about? You miss your parents, right? They didn't deserve death. To be killed by another dragon, it is such a terrible fate."

Dawn suddenly stopped as he realized what the voice had just said. "Wait, I'm assuming you have you know all this because you're looking into my memories, right?"

The voice chuckled, "Why yes! I can look into your memories."

The black dragon turned with anger in his eyes. "I don't know how my parents died. How do you?" The voice went silent, realizing their mistake. "You know how my parents died and I have no idea how they did, so how do you know?" Then it dawned upon the young dragon. "You were there. You saw it with your own eyes! Who are you?!" The voice still didn't answer back. The silence was excruciating for the young dragon.

"Tell me!" The dragon screamed into the silence. Nothing echoed back.

Then, a sudden pain hit him in the chest. He went flying and fell to the floor, has struggled to catch his breath.

"You insolent little wretch! I give you the opportunity to hold power and you question me? How dare you? I will make that beating Frost gave you seem like child's play!" As he spoke, a dark manifestation of a dragon started to form. It looked at Dawn with red eyes and it charged.

The young dragon tried to get up but couldn't. The shadows of the room were holding him down.

"Dawn…" The dragon sprinted with a bloodthirsty purpose.

"Prepare to die!" The beast gave a mighty roar as he continued to charge towards him.

"Dawn." The young dragon struggled to free himself from his translucent shackles. He looked back up with fear in his eyes. He closed his eyes.

"Dawn!" The dragon startled awake as he sat up. He looked around to notice that he was back in the patient room. He was panting, slightly wheezing, as he tried to comprehend his nightmare's meaning.

"Dawn are you ok?" The young dragon looked to see that Amethyst was right next to him, staring at him with worried eyes.

"Hold on, just… just give me a second to… to catch my breath." She waited as his heart rate slowed back down. She had come to check on him when he didn't respond to her calling his name. She saw that he was tossing and turning in his sleep as if he was trying to escape something.

"Ok, I'm fine now." She didn't buy it.

"I don't believe you. That is the second nightmare you've had here. What happened in that nightmare?" She looked at him, expecting an answer.

He opened his mouth to speak, but just thinking about the nightmare reminded him of his parents. "I-It was nothing. Just a ridiculous nightmare. It doesn't really matter." The dragon was trying to avoid the question. She felt him trying to lie.

"Dawn, I can feel you griefing about something. As a nurse, I can feel others emotions just by being around them. For you, I feel grief, but I also feel guilt." She lifted herself up and sat herself down next to him. "Whatever it is that's bothering you, you can tell me. I'm here to help." She put her paw on his shoulder, trying to comfort him.

He sighed. "Ok, I'll tell you about the nightmare." He griefed as he summarized his nightmare, including the deal the voice was trying to make about his parents. When he finished, he looked back at Amethyst. She sat there, processing the information that she was just given. She turned back to look at him.

"I'm sorry that happened to you. To have another dragon kill your mother. You shouldn't have to go through that." She hugged him to comfort him. Once again, the move surprised him, but then he embraced her as well.

"Well, I guess I should head back home." As he pushed himself off the bed, he winced at the sudden pain in his side. "Right, forgot about that."

She felt his side to assess his injury. "Your rib is broken, how did it break?"

"I might have tried to interact with Frost again."

"Seriously!" The white dragoness said, almost yelling at the young dragon. "He nearly killed you last time. Why did you go up to him again?"

Dawn hung his head in shame. "Because he looked upset and I wanted to help him. He didn't really take too kindly to me." Amethyst touched his injured side and he winced again.

"Oh, I'm sorry. But I need to have contact with the wound to heal it." As she felt the injury, she realized what she had to do. "Ok, I can't heal it until I set the bone back. This is going to hurt, so I need you to just lay down." As Dawn laid down, she kept her hand on his wound.

"Ok, I need you to focus on the sound of my voice. Ok?"

"Uh, Ok."

"Are you focusing on my voice?"

"Yes"

"Are you sure?"

Before he could answer, she quickly set the bone back in place. The black dragon tried to scream in pain, but nothing came out. "Ok, I'm sorry I had to do that." As she spoke, her paw began to glow as she began to heal the black dragon's wound. "I had to take your focus off the wound, so you wouldn't scream out in pain."

Dawn got up as she finished healing the wound. "How do you feel?"

He stretched out his back and felt several audible pops in his spine. "I feel better. Much better. Thank you so much." The dragon bowed his head. "Ok, I should really get going so I can stop bothering you." He got to up to leave. As he reached the door to the patient room, Amethyst stopped him.

"Wait!" He stopped and turned around to look at her. She was blushing lightly and her heart rate skyrocketed but... "You-you know what, its nothing, nevermind." He curiously looked at her, before smiling. His smile seemed to brighten her day. She forced a smile back.

"I'll see you soon." He dashed off and disappeared into the forest.


	6. Chapter 6

It was early morning when an elder dragon made his way to the center of the city. The street was buzzing with activity like it usually is. It's a special day since the Year of Dragons is only a couple of months away.

The elder reached the temple to greet his fellow friends. They were discussing something when they noticed the elder.

"Char, you have finally arrived! Now we can discuss our plan in full." The yellow dragon walked up to royal blue dragon elder.

"Yes, this matter is of utmost importance. We must determine the new guardians to protect the land."

"Indeed, we are growing too old and weary to continue our duty." The yellow looked to his side and attempted to charge lightning in his mouth. A charge did come out, but a fit of coughing quickly came after.

A dirt brown dragon walked up. "As you can see, we are too weak to use our elements. Static can't even hold up a charged voltage attack without coughing up a lung after long." He patted Static on the back to help his coughing. "We need the new generation to not only protect the land but also the new eggs."

Static continued to speak as he finished coughing. "We must begin looking for candidates. *cough* We already have one candidate for ice guardian, Frost from Northtown. Other than him, we will need to visit the other towns to find new candidates. So we must make preparations immediately. We will visit Northtown first." The dragons separated as they began to prepare for their departure.

…

It was a couple of days since the wolves' attack on Amethyst. Dawn was walking to town, deep in thought. He was thinking about his nightmare regarding the mysterious voice. "Who was that voice? He obviously knew who my parents were. I don't know even who parents were, except for my mother. I remember her so vividly, a black, elegant dragon with such a kind heart. My father used to be a guardian, so he wasn't around most of the time. I wish I knew him."

As he continued walking, he let his thoughts wander to the white dragoness. "Amethyst is so kind. I really do appreciate all she's done for me so far. But she was acting kinda weird when I was leaving the other day though, I wonder why. Maybe she's hiding something from me." He didn't notice that he was blushing. "I really have no idea what she was going to say. With what happened with the wolves, what if she…" He stopped his train of thought as he realized his cheeks were as red as tomatoes. " No, there's no way she feels the same way. How could she, with someone as pathetic as me." Dawn was so deep in thought, he didn't notice a hatchling run in front of him.

He jumped as he noticed the young hatchling. The young dragon seemed excited about something. "Hey, you seem kind of excited. Is something happening today?"

"Yeah, the guardians from Warfang, the dragon city, are coming to Northtown! I hear they are trying to find new guardians." The hatchling ran off with excitement resonating through his scales. The dragon wasn't the only who was excited.

"I got to see this! I might even get picked to be a guardian! I need to get town." Dawn started sprinting towards town, seeing his opportunity at being a hero.

…

He had finally arrived in town. The excitement was in the air as everyone awaited the guardians' arrival. Young hatchlings were jumping around, showing off their powers to each other.

"Wow, it's beautiful when the town is awake. I wonder if what that hatchling said is true. They never leave the dragon city unless something BIG is happening so it has to be true."

Suddenly, everyone started cheering. The young dragon looked in eagerness, as the elders showed up upon the horizon. There were only about three of them. They weren't able to find an ice guardian when Frost's father left.

As they landed, the townsfolk gathered around the dragons to hear them speak. A royal blue dragon stepped forward and opened his mouth to speak. "Northtown, thank you for welcoming us with open arms. We have many things to discuss as we have many important topics to speak about." The rest of the town nodded in agreement. As Char spoke, Static looked around the crowd, trying to find candidates. Immediately, He noticed Frost, far back in the crowd. Surprisingly, he was by himself. He looked uninterested in what Char was talking about. But, he is one of the only capable candidates for ice guardian.

He continued looking and noticed a couple of possible candidates. Something caught his eye. It was a black dragon. He looked young but intensely engaged in Char's words. And then, he noticed his eyes and knew what he had to do.

He walked to Char and whispered in his ear. Char nodded and turned back to the crowd. "We as guardians have reached the end of our time. We need a new generation of dragons. We need new guardians to take our place. As I was speaking, we were scouting out potential candidates. We are now collecting those candidates as we speak. Please remain where you are."

Dawn looked down at the ground, knowing he wasn't going to get picked. "Maybe, I'll never be a hero," he thought to himself. As he was sulking, he didn't notice the elder dragon walking next to him.

"Hello young dragon, why so glum?" Dawn looked up to the yellow elder dragon.

He looked up at the elder. "No way."

"Oh yes, today is your lucky day. If you could please follow me." The yellow dragon started back towards the stage and Dawn stood in disbelief. The elder turned back to look at him. "Well? Come on. This is no joke." The young dragon broke out of his trance and followed closely behind the guardian dragon.

"I can't believe this is happening! I'm a guardian candidate! I wonder who else was chosen." The young dragon looked ahead and saw about four maybe five dragons on the stage, not counting the elders. He got in line with the rest of the candidates. "I can't believe it. I have a chance at my dreams."

"Ugh, They chose you?" The young dragon didn't notice that Frost was standing next to him. "Great, now I have to deal with you for the entire trip." Dawn looked at Frost with a bit of fear.

"You know, I still want to understand you right? I don't know what I've done to make you so hateful towards me, but I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize to me. I'm not some loser you can try to sympathize with. I said it before, and I'll say it again, you have no idea what I've gone through and what I've lost." Dawn wondered what he was talking about.

"I mean, everyone has suffered some kind of loss. I lost my parents before I even knew how to speak." The light blue dragon eyes widened at that statement. The black dragon noticed Frost's reaction. "Guessing by your reaction, you lost one of your parents too." He looked back at the shocked dragon. The dragon struggled to find his words.

"Y-yes, I lost my mom." He sighed in shame of revealing his past to a weakling like Dawn.

"Well, I'm sorry for your loss. I hope she can look at what you're doing now and be proud." Dawn looked back towards the crowd, as Char turned to speak to them.

"Young dragons, we need will to depart early tomorrow morning towards Warfang. We guardians still have to visit the other towns, so we will have to leave you halfway through the trip. Congratulations, you are all been given a chance to perform your duty. You are dismissed."

Dawn began to walk off the stage as he heard someone call his name. "Dawn!" When he turned around, Amethyst had ran up and hugged him. "You did it! I'm so happy for you!"

He embraced her. "Thank you. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be standing here."

She blushed. "I mean, I was just doing what I do best. Helping people."

"You know I'm gonna miss you."

"Actually… I'm coming with you." The young dragon looked at her in shock.

"But what about the people in this town that need your help?"

Amethyst laughed. "Dawn, I'm not the only healer in town. I'm just the most popular. Besides, I can help a lot more people in Warfang." Her cheeks turned slightly red. "And… I like being around you." There was a bit of silence between the two dragons." Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow morning. Have a good night's rest!"

She kissed him on the cheek as she ran off to prepare. His brain froze up. He could hear his heartbeat and felt his face burning up. "Did she just… Does she really…" He couldn't comprehend what just happened.

As he stood there, trying to wrap his mind around it, he didn't notice the yellow eyes in the wall of trees before they disappeared into the foliage.

…

The pack was still resting when one of their scouts returned. The Alpha's ears perked up and he opened his eyes to see his scout returning. He got to his feet.

"Report."

"Of course, the elder guardians are looking for new dragons to take their place. They are not heading back to Warfang after tomorrow. We have our chance to attack Warfang." The scout brought up a good point.

"Prepare the pack. I will report to the master." Then the wolf howled into the cave. The rest wolves began to wake up from their slumber to howl in response. Within a couple of seconds, the whole pack was awake.

He stood tall and addressed his pack, "Prepare yourselves for battle! Tomorrow, the dragon city falls."


	7. Chapter 7

Today was the day. Dawn was up at his house, eating his breakfast, and preparing for his big day. As he looked up at his mother's painting on the wall. "I finally made it, mom. If only you could see me now." He had woke up a little bit late that morning so when he was about to walk out the front door, he got an idea. He sprinted upstairs to his balcony. The sun was barely peeking over the horizon as the day was starting. He got up onto the balcony railing. "Well, here goes nothing."

He jumped from the balcony, feeling the wind hit his face. Instead of fear, he felt the excitement. He spread his wings and took to the skies. And made his way to town. Everything around him looked alive and full of energy as if nature itself was rooting for him. The wind felt so natural blowing against his face. Then he looked down at the town as it came into view and slowly started descending. He spotted a group of dragons gathered around the entrance. He figured those were the candidates.

He landed and smiled as the rest of the candidates looked at him. One of them, an azure dragon, ran up to meet him. The dragon looked just a little younger than Dawn, with silver horns and blue eyes. "Good morning! Are you ready for today?" The dragon seemed as enthusiastic as Dawn was.

"Yeah, I've never been more ready. By the way, it's nice to meet you. My name is Dawn."

"Oooh, so your one that Frost has been talking about. He's been muttering to himself about you nearly the entire time I've been here. Anyways, my name is Rathal. I'm one of the fire guardian candidates. " Before he could continue, a pink dragoness with small silver horns yelled at him from afar.

"Rathal, what are you doing?" She walked up to him. "Who are you talking to?"

"Just one of the candidates, sis." He turned back towards the black dragon. "Dawn, this is my sister, Ratha. She is also a fire guardian candidate." The two dragons were clearly twins.

The dragoness turned to look at the Dawn. "Hi! Nice to meet you! Which guardian do you want to be?"

The black dragon froze. He thought that far ahead yet. "I actually don't know. To be honest, I don't even know what my element is."

Rathal gave a shocked expression. "Wait, you don't know your element? Then why did you get picked out as a candidate? I'm pretty sure everyone here knows their element.,so it's kind of weird that you don't know yours."

Ratha hit her brother in the arm. "Stop being so rude. If he was chosen, then he was chosen for a good reason. You shouldn't question that." She gave her brother a stern look before walking away.

"Good morning Dawn!" The black dragon turned around as Amethyst was walking up to the group. She rushed over to Dawn and hugged him tightly. Both dragons embraced each other. They stood there for a second, soaking in the moment.

Amethyst looked up to stare into his sparkling purple eyes. "I'm so happy to see you. Are you ready for today?"

Dawn smiled. "I've been ready since yesterday."

Before they could continue their conversation, the elder guardians walked in front of the group. "Ok young dragons, we hope you are ready to depart. Let us start our journey. Follow us for the time being." And with that, the group departed from Northtown. The forest looked beautiful from up above. The trees were forest green with hints of orange, red, and yellow, indicating summer turning to fall. The wind blew calmly into the faces of the thunder of dragons.

As they flew, Dawn pushed up to Rathal. "So why do you want to be a guardian?"

Rathal looked at Dawn and gave a goofy smile. "Well; one, my sister wanted to be a guardian so I don't wanna make it easy for her. Two, I wanna protect those who can't protect themselves. It's what my father used to do as a protector of our town." He looked back at Dawn. "If anyone, especially my sister, was ever in any type of danger. I would lay my life down to keep them safe. What about you?"

"Well, I also wanna protect those around me. And I feel like it's something my parents would want me to do. My dad was a guardian once, but I never really got to know him all that well." The dragon finished his sentence with a hint of sadness in his voice.

"I'm sorry about your dad. But your dad was a guardian? It's strange that I've never heard of him."

One of the elders, Char, had overheard their conversation and responded, "Well, his father was a very strong dragon, but mysteriously disappeared one night. There was no trace of him left. We assumed the worst. But I can assure you, your father was an honorable dragon."

Dawn gave a relieved smile. "Thank you."

Char looked back towards the rest of the group as they had just hit the crossroads. "Everyone! This is where we part ways. Candidates continue heading towards Warfang. You all know the way. Good luck."

The group split into two as the guardian candidates continued towards Warfang. Dawn backwinged to fly next to Amethyst. Ratha noticed and curiously turned to speak to her brother.

"Have you noticed how often those two talk to each other?" The azure dragon turned towards his sister.

"No, I haven't been paying much attention to how much those two talk to each other. Maybe they're just really good friends." The pink dragoness looked back towards her brother, who was blushing slightly.

She smiled flirtatiously, "You like that white dragoness, don't you?"

The azure dragon's cheeks lit up like red light bulbs. "What?! No! No, of course, I don't." He tried to appear serious but his sister could see right through his disguise. She brushed up against him.

"Rathal, you can't lie to me. I know you too well."

Before he could respond, a large explosion sounded through the air. "What was that?" Rathal looked out towards the land below. And then he realized that they had reached Warfang.

And that explosion was the sound of a hole being blown into its walls.


	8. Chapter 8

Rathal looked in shock at the sudden, gaping hole in the walls. He turned towards the group, "Guys! Warfang is under attack! We need to help. Dawn and Amethyst, start gathering and helping civilians evacuate."

Dawn and Amethyst looked at each other before nodding and heading towards the city

Rathal took charge, "Ratha, I need you with me so we can hold off the wolves." The pink dragoness flew up to her brother.

"Frost I need you to-."

Frost snapped, "DON'T tell me what to do. I know what I need to do so don't even bother trying." The light blue dragon flew off towards the wall and into the group of invading wolves.

The azure dragon growled in frustration," I hate that guy. He's lucky we have more important things to worry about." Rathal looked towards his sister, "Let's go." They flew off into the smoke.

Frost had landed when a group of wolves surrounded him. They looked at him, ready to take their first kill. When one stepped forward, a spike punched through the ground below his feet. The spike went straight through the wolves jaw, choking him to blood filled his lungs. The rest of the wolves looked at their fallen pack mate and then back at the ice dragon. The ice dragon smirked," This gonna be easier than I thought." Suddenly, two wolves charged at the confident dragon. Frost backflipped over one of the wolves and fired an ice spike and impaled them both. They both screamed in pain as their bodies limply fell to the ground.

Another wolf lifted up his blade to bring it down on the dragon's head. Frost side sidestepped the blade and kicked it, breaking it in half. The wolf fell to the ground, trying to crawl away from the ice dragon. But an ice spike went straight through the wolf's paw. He yelped in pain. He looked back in fear as the dragon approached him. Frost prepared to deliver the final blow before a wave of flames hit the wolf, incinerating. The ice dragon looked up to see Rathal was above him.

"Frost, we need you to repair that wall!. Our priority is those who reside in the city. Go cover that hole, Ratha and I will cover you." Frost scoffed at the fire dragon.

"Fine. But you better not let them touch me." The ice dragon sprinted towards the wall.

A howl vibrated through the air. Rathal looked to meet the attacking wolves. He turned towards his sister. "Are you ready?"

She puffed out her chest in determination, "Always." Both dragons deeply inhaled and released a stream of flames. The two flames mixed and turned white hot. As the wolves met the flames head-on, their screams of torture were drowned by the sound of flames. They let go of the flame but kept their guard. Their eyes widened as a wolf was still standing. He didn't have a scratch on him and his pelt was blood red. The wolf was smiling. She exclaimed, "What the- How is that wolf still standing?" Then wolf held his paw out and a fireball formed in it. The dragon's jaws dropped as they realized why he was untouched. He was the Alpha of the pack. "Crap, he's an Alpha. Pack leaders receive special elemental abilities when they are made leaders. It appears this one can control fire." The wolf chucked the fireball at the two dragons and both dodged in opposite directions. They both looked at the wolf, expecting him to attack again.

Instead, he spoke, "Dragons, allow me to introduce myself. I am Grimm. And when I'm done with you, you're not going to be able to leave this battlefield!"

…

The battle raged on outside the walls as Dawn was clearing out the city. There were a couple of hatchlings inside one of the burning house. He busted through the door. Almost everything was aflame except for the stone chimney. They sounded like they were upstairs. Dawn jumped onto their balcony. The hatchlings were crouched in a corner. One of them, a blue dragon, was trying to comfort his sibling, a yellow dragon, that seemed many years younger than him. "Hey, it's okay you guys, I'm here to get out you out of here." The young dragon couldn't help them. He only spoke to keep them calm. He looked for a way to free them from raging flames. But then, he realized the blue dragon might be an ice dragon. "Ok, you!" The blue dragon looked at the Dawn. "I need your help. I need you to use your elemental breath. You're an ice dragon right?" The blue dragon nodded. "Good, I need you to freeze the room."

"But-But I don't think I can." The hatchling was on the brink of tears.

"You can! I believe in you. Do it for your sibling!" The little dragon turned towards his sibling.

She was crying," Please, I'm scared. I don't wanna die." The hatchling hugged her brother.

"It's ok, I'll always protect you." He turned back towards the fire with a determined look in his look. He closed his eyes and began to focus. Slowly, the room started to cool. Then ice suddenly spread and covered the room, extinguishing the fire. He opened his eyes in amazement.

Dawn smiled for the young hatchling, "You did it! You actually-." Before he could even finish, both dragons ran up and hugged the black dragon. They were both crying with tears of joy.

"Thank you so much! You're our hero." The young dragon hesitated before embracing the young ones with his wings.

He looked down at the two dragons. "Ok, let's get you guys to your parents." The hatchlings got on Dawn's back but then there was a loud roar coming outside the wall. "That doesn't sound good.

…

Grimm had grounded Ratha. She roared in his face but was quickly silenced as he grabbed her by her muzzle and slammed the back of her head into the ground. She was knocked unconscious from the blow. "You monster!" The wolf turned to dragoness' brother charging him. Instead of dodging, he grabbed the dragon by his horns. He used the dragon's momentum and threw him into a tree. The tree fell as the fire dragon impacted it. He skidded across the ground. He stopped as he slammed into another tree.

The dragons felt the blood in the back of his throat. He tried to get up, but he was winded and buckled down to his knees. As he looked up, he saw spots all across his vision. But, he could see the blood wolf approaching him. "Is that all you go-" The wolf slammed his foot into the dragon's neck, cutting him off mid-sentence. He bent down low till his muzzle was nearly touching Rathal.

"You have lost this battle." The azure dragon spat in the wolf's face. The wolf smirked. "Well, it's been fun, but I have a job to do." He raised his paw again to form another fireball to finally kill the unconscious fire dragon. But a sudden pain shot up his arm. An ice spike had pierced his elbow, stopping his attack and freezing his arm.

"So, you're resistant to fire?" Frost walked up behind the wolf. He snarled and tried to lash at the ice dragon, but couldn't reach him. "You don't look like much." He smacked the wolf in the face and laughed. "Ok, yeah, you are definitely not as strong as you look. Let's just end this." The dragon's tail spade rose above his head. Before he delivered the fatal blow, dark lightning hit him in the side. He was knocked back but stopped himself before hitting the trunk of a tree. Frost looked around to find the source of the attack but there's nothing there. And the wolf had disappeared. He looked back towards Rathal. The unconscious dragon was bleeding from his nose and mouth. One of his wings appeared broken as it was bent backward. The dragon had several broken ribs, telling from the number of bruises around his sternum. Frost picked him up and carried him back towards the city.

The wolves appeared to be retreating. As Frost walked across the battlefield, Ratha was awake and rushed over to him. "Rathal! Is he ok?!"

"Yeah, but he's going to need serious medical attention. Where's Amethyst?"

"She's still helping out some of the soldiers. I'll go get her." The dragoness ran off to go and find Amethyst. Frost found some grass and gently laid down the unconscious fire dragon. He looked towards Warfang, "This used to be my father's home. I will become an ice guardian like my father. But I won't make the same mistakes that he did." He cringed as the pain hit him in the side, He had a burn where the lightning had hit him. He exhaled a mist of frost on the burn. It hurt a lot to do, but cooling it would help the wound in the long run, The ice dragon felt tired so he formed a barrier of ice around him and Rathal for them both to rest.


	9. Chapter 9

The creature was grooming itself as the pack returned. They were all covered in cuts and bruises. Their fur was stained in blood. By the smell of it, it was wolf blood. Several were also limping, while others were coughing up blood. Grimm stepped forward to report. His arm was limp as he gripped his elbow. The only other injury he sustained was that he was blinded in one eye.

He opened his mouth but the creature hissed loudly, cutting him off. "You do not need to say anything. I can tell by the look in your eyes that you failed." The blood wolf hung his head.

He brought himself down to one knee and spoke, "Yes, we were pushed back after breaching the wall. A group of dragons arrived on the scene and forced us to retreat." He looked up into the dragon's light blue eyes. "I nearly killed one of them, but one of his friends surprised me from behind. But that is no excuse for our failure."

The creature looked at him with a hint of frustration in their eyes. "I couldn't believe your pack failed me and your master again and To those insolent little whelps no less!" She growled at the wolf but he didn't flinch. "But, it is interesting that you did come close to killing one of them. So, I will not kill you… not this time at least. But! I will not, nor will the master, tolerate another failure. He wants you to know that I will accompany the next invasion. Is that clear?"

Grimm quietly sighed in relief, "Yes, I will not fail you again." The pack leader got to his feet. He began to walk towards his pack healers to receive treatment for his wounds. The creature turned around and began walking deeper into the case. "Wait! Where are you going?"

The creature looked back around towards Grimm," I'm going to speak to my master. Don't disturb us." It continued walking until they were out of sight.

…

Ratha hadn't left the healer's pavilion since they took her brother in for treatment. They advised her to remain outside until they had stabilized Rathal. The stress and worry were eating away at her. "Ugh! I can't stand this! I want to know if he's ok!" She sat down as she recounted the events the battle regarding that blood wolf. "I've never known a wolf to be able to control fire before. He was so strong, he completely overwhelmed us. He managed to knock me out cold" She looked towards the curtains to the pavilion. "He almost killed Rathal. If it wasn't for-.." She suddenly felt movement behind her. She snapped around into a defensive stance, readying herself for a surprise attack. But, she was surprised to see it was actually just Frost. He was curled up into a ball, resting his head against the soft, green grass.

He opened one eye to take notice of the pink dragoness. He sighed as she relaxed from her defensive stance. "Oh sorry, Frost! I didn't notice you sleeping there. How long have you been laying there?"

He calmly responded, "Probably for as long as you've been here." The dragoness stared at him for a little bit, curious as to why he had remained there for so long.

"Why are you sleeping here of all places?" The ice dragon looked a little bit annoyed but kept his cool.

"I don't know where else to sleep. We haven't learned where we are supposed to sleep so I just decided to sleep here." The fire dragoness appeared skeptical. "Look, I know you may not like me, but I promise I'm not a liar."

"No, I don't think you're a liar, I just think there's more to it than just sleep." She scooted closer to him. "What's really on your mind?" The ice dragon looked down at the ground. His eyes were filled with sorrow. There was something bothering him.

"Nothing, I just really needed some sleep." His voice didn't stutter and he didn't sound nervous. But his emerald eyes told a different story.

"Frost, I can tell there's something bothering you. I can see it in your eyes. What is it?" He was silent. He refused to answer back. Ratha sighed, "Okay if you don't want to talk about it, that's fine. But just remember you have someone to talk to. Keeping your emotions bottled up isn't healthy." She touched his side and he cringed in pain. She quickly drew her hand back. He had a burn on his side. "How did you get this burn?"

Frost covered up the wound with his wing. "Something hit me with a lightning attack. It was when I was saving your brother from that blood wolf. It's not bad though." He looked really in pain. She was kind of worried about him. He noticed the look of concern in her eyes, "I promise, I'm fine." He didn't really want to tell her that it was excruciatingly painful. He knew what she was going through and didn't want to worry her more.

A manweersmall peeked his head out from under the curtain, "Miss Ratha, your brother is awake if you wish to see him."

The pink dragoness smiled, "Of course!" She sprung to her feet and rushed inside. When she was inside, the room was dimly lit, creating a soothing environment for those being treated. Rathal was resting on one of the beds when his sister entered. His right wing was wrapped up as well as his ribs. He looked tired. He was talking to one of the healers before noticing her. He smiled, glad to finally see that his sister was alright. Tears started flowing down Ratha's face, "Rathal!"

She rushed to his side and hugged him carefully as to not cause him any more pain. "I'm so glad you're alright!" She was crying with tears of joy.

The fire dragon was trying to hold back tears as well. "I'm so glad you're ok too. I thought that the wolf had hurt you. I was so worried about you."

Ratha looked up in shock, "Worried about me? I was worried about you!" She hugged him a bit tighter. "Please, never leave me again!"

Rathal stifled back tears, "I promise you, I won't leave you ever again." As he couldn't hold it back anymore, the twins cried into each other's shoulders. Over their tears, they didn't notice Frost standing by the curtain, watching them share that emotional moment. They also didn't notice the tear that rolled down his scales as he walked away.

…

The mysterious creature walked into the darkness. It felt the darkness swarm around them. When they felt their master's presence, they spoke, "Master, I am at your service."

The voice echoed, "What was the result of the battle for Warfang?"

The creature bowed, "The wolves failed in their efforts. Apparently, a group of dragons had arrived and pushed them back. I personally had to save their pack leader. Those wolves have failed you again."

The voice spoke with a bit of a growl in its voice, " So the wolves were once again defeated by a pathetic group of whelps! They are lucky. They may be weak, but necessary for the time being. My servant, when you accompany the wolves during their next invasion, make your presence felt. Use the shadows to your advantage. Don't let them see you, however. They must not know who you are, not yet." The voice gave an evil chuckle. "Torture every single one of dragons until you break their spirit and their pride, especially that black dragon. He must understand that he cannot tell me no and get away with it, Understood?"

The creature nodded, "Understood."

"And you know exactly how to break him, right?"

The creature took the skies, its shadow cutting through the pale moonlight. "Of course, I know him all too well." The creature's voice echoed as disappeared into the night sky.


	10. Chapter 10

All the guardian candidates, except for Rathal due to his injuries, were assembled outside of the temple of the city. One of the mole soldiers had gone around to gather them all. He had to have Dawn pull Ratha away from Rathal since she didn't want to leave him. The three candidates were standing far away from each other: Dawn was staring aimlessly into the ground, Ratha was pacing back and forth, and Frost had his back turned away from both dragons.

The temple door creaked open as a dragon with yellow scales and dark blue horns stepped out to greet the dragons. The three dragons looked towards the door. "Young ones, please come in. We have much to discuss." The dragons walked inside and were astonished by the temple interior. The marble pillars in the room were etched with symbols of past guardians, creating an ancient yet modern touch. The current room they were in had a table in the center, where the guardians discuss plans for the city or battle strategy. There were seven hallways branching off from that room. There were four rooms for the guardians, one for the archives, another for training dorms and an arena. The last hallway appeared to be under construction.

"Welcome to the Warfang! We apologize for what happened when you arrived. Attacks on Warfang aren't common anymore. They must have noticed that the guardians were currently out of the city. They were obviously naive for thinking they could take Warfang, but that is not the point of discussion. Today, we will discuss your training. I guess that you are the guardian candidates I've been waiting for?" Frost stepped forward. He had a skeptical look on his face.

"Before you continue, who are you? My dad never told me about you."

The elder dragon gave a hearty laugh, "Your father didn't necessarily take notice of me. Anyhoo, my name is Volteer. Only Static knows me well since I was the guardian before him. But I lost my powers a long time ago. I remain as Warfang's sole archivist. It's basically my home now." There was a bit of silence.

"Ok, enough about me. You all will be sleeping in the dorms. Training will begin when the rest of the candidates arrive. You each will train with your corresponding guardian. Dawn, since we do not know your element, you will be training under one of our oldest dragons, Terrador. We do not think your element is earth, but he can unlock your potential. That is all. Ratha, if you would please inform your brother of this information, that would be fantastic. You are all dismissed." The dragon walked away into the archives. Frost went to the arena to immediately start training. Ratha went back to her brother while Dawn went to his dorm room.

The dorm rooms were for every dragon of every element. Dawn found his room labeled with his name. There wasn't anything particularly special about his dorm, just a standard bed, and fireplace. It felt stale like this room hadn't been used in years. He did have a balcony like in his house at Northtown though. He walked out onto the balcony to appreciate the view. The city was aesthetically pleasing at night. The city was lit by lamps all down its streets. The buildings were covered in an orange glow. He was so entranced by how stunning it was that he stared at it for what felt like an hour. He just felt so at peace. A knock came at the door which snapped him out of his trance. "Coming!" He walked to the door. He wasn't expecting anyone today.

When he opened the door, he was surprised to see that it was Amethyst. "Hi, Dawn! Just want to drop by to see how you were settling in." She looked genuinely happy to see him.

"Yeah, I'm fitting in well. D-do you want to come in?" The black dragon stammered a bit but Amethyst didn't mind.

"Sure. Thank you!" When she walked in, she looked around. "There's not a lot here."

"Yeah, I just got here, so I haven't had a lot of time to start making it into a home yet."

She went out onto the balcony, "You have a beautiful view though."

Dawn walked up next to her. The moonlight reflecting off her scales actually made her scales like small amethysts. "So that's how she got her name," he thought to himself. He looked out towards the city once again while the dragoness did the same. "You know, your scales look amazing in the moonlight."

She blushed, "Thank you." The two went silent for a couple of minutes before Amethyst spoke again, "So, there's something I've been meaning to say to you for a while."

Dawn felt his blood pressure rise a little, "And what would that be?"

"Well, I never got a chance since that night you saved me from the wolves. The way you put yourself in harm's way just for me. I just wanted to say… Thank you." Something was shimmering against her eyelids when she said that. She was crying. Dawn noticed and scooted closer to her and wrapped his wing around her to comfort the dragoness. She leaned her head against his chest. His scales were warm. She cooed softly as her heart rate relaxed. She felt so comfortable being next to him. She felt safe.

They sat there as Dawn calmed down her. Though she had stopped crying, he didn't really want to let her go. But as he looked to check on her, she was asleep. Dawn picked her up and carried over to his bed. He laid her down carefully on top, as to not wake her up. He curled up on the floor, letting her sleep in his bed for the night.

…

The fireplace was crackling with heat as Frost's father walked into his bedroom. He was about ready to go to bed when he felt something by his door. He went back downstairs to find that his door was open. He sighed, "So, you finally came back to finish the job. Took you long enough."

A strange creature walked through the door, "Of course I have. I mean, don't you want to join your deceased mate, Sickle?"

The elder dragon knew exactly who he was talking to, "Of course I would. But I'd prefer giving you a personal trip to hell instead."

"Very well, then how about I go and see how your son is doing?" Before the creature could walk away a wall of ice blocked off the door. It turned around slowly to the sound of a deep growl.

"You won't touch a scale on his body you son of b****!" He charged the shadowy figure. It simply dodged out of the way. When it dodged, he tried to skid to a halt. He stopped before he could hit the wall. The creature suddenly grabbed him by his tail. It swung him through the air before slamming him into a table. The table broke in half and scattered across the floor. When the dust settled, he used his hind legs and kicked it the wall. He tried to get up, but one of the table legs had gone through the membranes of his wing. He grabbed it and pulled as hard as he could. It came out, but he was bleeding. The creature shook of its stars and spit a green glob. Sickle dodged just the glob made contact with the table. He looked back as the started to burn away. He looked back towards the creature. All it did was smile at him.

Sickle used his ice energy to form ice spikes behind the creature. He ran towards it. They wrestled each other down for a while. But the creature exactly what he was trying to do. After tussling for a minute or so, the creature threw him off of them, towards the ice spikes. He stopped just as one touched him. He looked back at her with ice-cold energy in his eyes. He raised his wings as the energy finished building. But a chord of fear could be seen in his eyes when he noticed the creature smiling again.

Suddenly a strong gust of wind hit his wings, pushing him back. He gasped as he felt the ice spikes behind him impale him. He looked at the creature, who had a look of pure delight on its face. Then, it grabbed him by his shoulders and ripped him off the spikes. He screamed in agony at the sudden rush of pain. He collapsed on the floor, profusely bleeding. He couldn't feel his legs. The spike must have punctured and broken his back. Then he felt the hot breath of the creature as it lowered its head down to his level.

"Goodbye, Sickle. It's been fun but I think your son is a better fighter. I guess I'll go find out what kind of tricks he's got up his wings." The creature started walking away. As it was walking, it used the flat end of its tail blade and smacked him across his face as a final act of shame.

...

Frost was awake in his room. He had lit up his fireplace and was reading up on some history of the wolves. He was curious as to why they had attacked Warfang. He thought maybe their history would have some indicators as to why.

As he read through it, he felt like something was wrong. He ignored the feeling at first but he couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was about to happen… or was happening. He looked and listened. He couldn't hear anything other than the wind and crickets outside. There was no one around him either

"Frost…" He heard something call his name. It sounded familiar.

"Frost..." He was still trying to figure out where the voice was coming from when he realized who it was.

"Dad!" As he made that realization, he jumped up and took flying in the night. His heart was racing as he quickly made his way back to Northtown. He almost thought he was lost. But he didn't care. He was so tired but he needed to find his father.

He came upon Northtown and immediately landed by his house. He rushed towards the front, "Dad!" No response. When he reached the front door, it was blocked by ice. He rammed into multiple times trying to break it down. It cracked before finally breaking down. When he looked into the house, he immediately noticed signs of a fight. There was a black spot where the table used to be, and ice was protruding from the wall. But the worst was the bleeding heap on the floor that was his father.

"Dad!" He rushed next to his father. One of his wings was broken and he had three puncture wounds through his chest. He had been laying there for quite a while. His father opened his eyes. The life in his eyes was fading. "Dad, you're going to be ok. I'll freeze the wounds to stop the bleed-."

"Don't." Frost was shocked by what his father just said.

"But, why?" The ice dragon wanted so desperately to help his father.

"Because… even if you *cough* stopped the bleeding, I would die before we made it to the healer."

Tears began to roll down Frost's face. "But Dad, I can't let you die. I wouldn't know what to do without you!" He hugged his dad, "I'm sorry, please don't leave me!"

His father smiled, "I'll never leave you because... I love you, son…" His sides began to slow a crawl and then… they just stopped.

Frost almost felt like his heart stopped beating. It didn't feel real, but it was.

He cried softly, "I love you Dad."


	11. Chapter 11

The day after Sickle's death was shocking and heartbreaking, to say the least. The town managed to set up a funeral for his father almost immediately. But his death left a cloud of sorrow hanging over the town. The streets took a darker tone. The town folk felt as though the sun had been blocked out. As if their source of happiness had been snuffed out. All the light in the town seemingly just died.

Frost had attended the funeral. He seemed a lot quieter after his father's tragedy. His aggressive nature had toned down, but he isolated himself. Then, without a word, he left and headed back to Warfang.

He still couldn't process the death of his father. He tried to feel angry or upset. But he just felt… empty. He couldn't tell the other candidates though. He needed to remain strong for them and himself. As Warfang came into view, the rest of the candidates were already waiting outside of the temple as he flew closer.

When he landed, Dawn was the first to speak, "Where were you, Frost? We've all been worried about you."

Frost scoffed, "Nowhere that concerns you. Now if you can excuse me, I'm going to go and continue training." Frost hoped they didn't hear the hint of sorrow in his voice.

"Are you sure? You seem kind of distracted by something. Did something happen?" Dawn was getting curious.

Instead of answering his question, Frost just walked past him. He knew if he kept talking to him, he would eventually break and reveal the truth. So he just ignored him.

As Frost walked, Dawn began feeling a little concerned about him. He didn't seem as aggressive as he usually is. "Frost is trying to hide something," he thought to himself. "He's acting a bit unusual. He's would have beaten me up by now."

"You feel like something is wrong too, right?" He stepped out of his thoughts as Amethyst starting speaking to him.

"Yeah, he's acting a bit weird."

"Well, I felt some kind of sorrow surrounding his heart. I don't know what it could be though." She contemplated the options and made a choice. "Maybe you could try to ask him again. I'll come with you."

"But you know how he feels about me. Also, I don't want him to hurt you."

"One, that didn't stop you last time. Two, I can take care of myself. You shouldn't worry so much" Dawn was going to respond, but he didn't have a good enough excuse.

He sighed, "Ok, fine. Let's go talk to him." They both walked both into the temple. As they walked into the arena, Frost was already training with his makeshift ice armor against some training dummies.

Frost heard them approaching and felt his frustration build. He muttered, "Why can't they just leave me alone?" He continued training but spoke to them. "What do you want?"

Dawn spoke first, "Frost, we're worried about you. We want to help, but we need to know what happened and where you went."

Amethyst followed up, "Yeah, you're grieving about something. I can feel the despair in your heart. Please, let us help you."

All this conversation was doing for Frost was frustrating him. "No! You don't deserve to know! It's my problem, not yours!"

That statement did nothing but solidify Dawn's determination. "No, we're not leaving this time." Frost stopped and turned towards the black dragon. Pure rage and disbelief were smoldering in his eyes. He walked up to Dawn.

His stare seemed to pierce his soul. "I'm not asking. Leave me be before you force me to kick your a** again."

Dawn wasn't backing down, "Try me!" Before he could, Amethyst stepped between the rivaling drakes.

She pushed Frost back, "No, I won't let you two fight!" She growled towards Frost. "Especially you! I've heard of what you do to those you fight. I've personally have had to help them with their injuries. You almost killed Dawn the first time you met him. You aren't going near him again." She stood steadfast against the light blue dragon.

"Move. This is between me and him. I don't care what kind of relationship you two share, but he needs to learn his place. Move, I don't want to hurt you!"

Dawn yelled out, "You're nothing but a bully! How do you expect to become a guardian if you continue to hurt the innocent? Your father would be disappointed in you!"

Frost snapped at the mention of his father, "That's it! No one lectures me on how to become a guardian!" He ran at Dawn, teeth bared and claws out. However, Amethyst grabbed him by his horns and held him back. He pushed more force into his charge, but she didn't budge.

"I won't let you past me!" She wasn't going to let anyone get hurt. Suddenly she felt something cold form against her legs. She looked down at her hind legs. They were frozen in ice. Then, Frost stopped in his charge and backed up. As she fell back on her front paws, he encased them in ice as well. She was rendered immobile.

Frost spoke, "I didn't want to do that. But you left me with no choice. This fight has nothing to do with you!" He started walking around her.

She wasn't out of tricks just yet. She used her free tail and struck him across the face. He only flinched slightly though. He felt something wet against his cheek. She had drawn blood. All the blood did was further enrage Frost.

"You shouldn't have done that!" As he spoke an ice ball formed on the end of his tail. He whipped around and bashed it against Amethyst's skull. It sent her flying and knocked her unconscious as she impacted the wall. He looked at her with a bit of regret. But he didn't have a chance to think before a crushing force struck him square in the chest. He skidded back.

"No! You shouldn't have done that!" Dawn was steaming. For the first time, Frost was kind of afraid of Dawn. The black drake's eyes were nothing but slits lined with killing intent. He charged again, but Frost was ready. He jumped into the air and an ice spike came up where he was standing. He thought Dawn would ram himself in the spike, knocking himself out. Instead, Dawn jumped and ran up the spike. Dawn grabbed Frost by his tail as they were still in the air. They scratched and clawed at each other, both trying to gain the upper hand. The weight of two dragons was too much for Frost and he fell out of the sky. He landed with a loud thud. He tried to get up but Dawn's weight came crashing down on him. The impact stunned him for a bit but Dawn was stunned as well. He recovered before Dawn did and saw his chance to incapacitate him. He got on top of the young dragon. The black dragon struggled as Frost bit down on his neck. But, a quick and sharp pain shot up his neck and he was almost instantly knocked unconscious.

Frost got up off of the unconscious dragon. Ratha came running into the arena, "What is happening in here?" She was shocked at the scene in front of her. Frost was getting up off of an unconscious Dawn. Amethyst lay against a wall as some of it had broken off and fallen over her. She looked at Frost with anger in her eyes, "What did you do?"

"They… They left me no choice." Frost couldn't believe what had happened. He had lost his temper with Amethyst and knocked her aside. He was defending himself against Dawn. He used a nerve point in his neck to temporarily incapacitate and render him unconscious. Despite his hatred towards the black dragon, he regretted hurting Amethyst.

"I don't believe you." He looked up at Ratha. Her words seemed like nothing but a silenced whisper to him. He couldn't stare her in the eye. "What does she think about the situation? What would my father say?" A tear rolled down his cheek as he was once again reminded of his late father. He couldn't let any of the candidates see him like this. He quickly got to his feet and took to the sky.

Ratha gasped in surprise but quickly took after him. He was excellent at flying. She nearly lost him about three times, but she wasn't going to let him leave. She fired a stream of fire breath to boost her speed. She quickly caught up with the ice dragon. "Stop running!"

Frost looked over his shoulder. She was above him. "Leave me alone!" He dove towards the ground, trying to gain more speed to increase the distance between him from Ratha. His efforts proved futile as she easily tackled him mid-dive. Both hit the ground but Ratha remained on top of him.

He struggled to free himself, "Let me go!" She slammed her paw against his face. The force sent stars through his head but kept him conscious. She looked Frost in the eye as he shook the stars out of his head, "Why are you running from me?"

Frost looked away as he felt tears in his eyes. "Because I was worried of what you or the guardians would think if they saw me there." He couldn't help but think of his father. "Why me?"

"What do you mean 'why me'?" She looked skeptical of his explanation.

"It just feels like my whole life is going wrong! I feel like I'm falling apart at the seams! I can't handle it anymore!" The tears were flowing uncontrollably. He needed a release. "First, my mother, then my father, when will people around me stop dying?!"

When he said that, she realized why he was acting so weird and why he had left. "That's why you left the other day. Your father was killed." She got off him and let him sit up.

"I left because I heard him call out to me. When I got there, I was too late." He finally turned to look at her. The tears streaming down his face looked like mini waterfalls. "The worst thing is… I could have been there! I could have saved him! I always blamed my father down for letting my mom die. But I'm no better!"

Anger was building in his voice, "I'm nothing but a hypocrite! I'm weak! I can't even keep those that I love safe!" He slowly calmed down as he looked back at Ratha. "I don't deserve to be a guardian."

"Don't say that!" He was shocked at Ratha's sudden response. "You can't just throw away everything you worked so hard towards! Your father wouldn't want you to give up! You think your emotions would make you weaker as a guardian. You're wrong. I admire the fact that you opened up to me. I think you are stronger because of it." Frost felt a little happier from Ratha's compliment but still couldn't get over the pain he caused Amethyst and Dawn.

"Well, we need to get back to the temple. You need to apologize to Dawn and Amethyst too." She pulled him back onto his feet. "Once we clean yourself up, we'll head back." Frost nodded and walked away to the nearby river to clean his scales. As dipped into the river, his mind went back to what happened at the temple. He couldn't stand the fact that he had hurt Amethyst. He didn't want to but when she hit him, he just couldn't let it stand. Either way, he needed to pay for his actions, whether he wanted to or not. Once he finished, he headed back to Ratha. She was leaning against the trunk of a tree. She noticed him walking towards her.

"Are you ready to go?"

He nodded, "Yeah, let's go." They both flapped their wings and flew into the sky.


	12. Chapter 12

"These candidates aren't meshing." Volteer was looking over Amethyst and Dawn and was speaking to an old earth dragon. He had discovered them unconscious in the arena and had carried them to the infirmary as fast he could. They were both discussing the situation while waiting for Dawn to wake up. "Dawn and Frost have a short, but troubling history. And Frost's current mental state is doing nothing but destabilizing their already rivalrous relationship. If those two can't learn to live in peace with each other, they won't work as guardians."

The earth dragon sat in the corner, thinking about the best way to handle the situation. He decided, "In order for them to get over this childish rivalry of theirs, they will need to understand each other. The only problem is that Frost confides in almost no one. He refuses to open up his emotions to the group. We'll need to either convince him or find someone he will confide in." As he finished speaking, Ratha and Frost walked into the tent. Volteer turned and gave Frost a stern look.

"Frost, what happened out there in the arena?" The light blue dragon seemed a bit glum. His eyes were a little red and puffy, and the earth dragon noticed.

He put out a paw in front of Volteer. "Hold on Volteer. It looks like our young dragon is going through some emotional turmoil.

The yellow dragon pushed his paw away, "Terrador, we have to know what happened in the arena." He turned back towards Frost, still awaiting an answer.

Frost sighed. He knew that he would get scolded, but as he had said to Ratha earlier, he was no liar. He looked Volteer in the eye and nodded, "Ok." He explained the situation exactly how it unfolded. He explained how he had knocked out Amethyst and was forced to defend himself against Dawn. "When I had the chance to, I bit down on a nerve point on his neck, which incapacitated him. He won't be able to get up for about an hour or two." He hung his head in shame, "This situation happened because of me. I let my frustration get the better of me. I'm… sorry."

Terrador spoke, "Young dragon, you must learn how to control your anger. If you become a guardian, you will need to keep a level head and clear mind, especially if Dawn becomes a guardian as well. The elder dragon pondered what to do about them. "You and Dawn have a personal matter to settle. Tomorrow, you two will have a sparring match to settle your differences. Without using elemental abilities." Frost would easily win if elements were allowed so Terrador needed to level playing field. "Ok, young dragon, we ask that you please head back to your dorm, as well as you Ratha." Both dragons nodded and walked out of the tent.

Volteer turned towards Terrador, "I thought you said that they needed to understand each other?"

Terrador smiled, "You truly know someone after you've fought them at least once. Trust me, I know what I'm doing."

"Ok, but what about Dawn's training?" Volteer pointed out.

Terrador appeared annoyed, "As I have said before, I'm better at combat than the elements and you know that. You should find someone else."

Volteer snapped, "There is no one else! We are some of the last elders of this city. We are the very few that actually have the wisdom to teach them. There is no one else!" The yellow dragon was still looking for a proper elder to train Dawn. Terrador was being stubborn.

"I do not believe I am the right choice." The earth dragon ran through all the options for mentors through his head. "What about Kyron? We know he has an extensive understanding of the dragon's elemental abilities."

Volteer couldn't believe he just suggested him, "He is a mysterious dragon with unknown origin!. He cannot be trusted! He could have malicious intent!" Volteer clearly didn't trust this mysterious dragon.

"Well, if you have any better options, I'd love to hear them!" Volteer went to speak but froze. He was beaten. He didn't have any other options. He didn't want to put the lives of these young dragons into someone he barely even knows. Yet, it seems like Kyron was the only choice/

"Gah! Fine, but where is this mysterious dragon located?"

"He lives in the old dragon temple, outside the city's limits. It was recently into an academy for young dragons so it's the perfect place for Dawn."

"Hold on, I think he's coming to."

Dawn's eyes slid open, but only slightly. His vision was blurred and he could make only make out the colors of two dragons. "Dawn, are you ok?" When his vision cleared, he found Volteer looking at him.

"Yeah, I'm fine." His head was throbbing. "Ugh, what happened?" He tried to move but a pain shot up his side. It felt like getting stabbed in the neck.

"Don't try and move Dawn. Frost used a nerve bite to temporarily paralyze you from the neck down. You can still move your head, but don't try to move anything else."

Frost's name suddenly jogged his memory. He tried to look around to find Amethyst but Volteer kept his head still. "Don't worry young dragon, she is fine. She is right over there." He pointed towards a bed just next to him. "Luckily, she only had a couple of bruises and a minor concussion." Her forehead was bandaged up and she was still asleep. Seeing her unconscious filled Dawn with anger, "Where is Frost?!"

"Dawn, we understand how you feel about her. But you need to keep your emotions in check."

"But he hurt her!" Dawn snapped, "Do expect me to just let him get away with that?"

"No!" Volteer snapped back. "But, you didn't act like a guardian in that situation! A guardian would've made sure that she was okay and uninjured, not immediately engage in battle." When he said that, Dawn stopped mid-thought. He hadn't thought about it that more he thought about it, the more he realized Volteer was right. It's not that he didn't care about her, but his anger had blinded him. If he had just kept his mouth shut, she wouldn't have gotten hurt.

His anger was replaced with guilt. "You're right. I-I let her down. I talk about being a hero all the time. But when I saw her get hurt, all I thought about at that moment was hurting him back." He looked back at Volteer, "Are you sure that I am worthy to be a candidate? After what I just tried to do?"

Volteer sighed, "Dawn, every dragon has their moment of weakness. What's important is that you learn how to overcome that weakness." He patted the top of Dawn's head, "You just need focus on protecting the innocent. Your selflessness will define you as a guardian, not how many enemies you kill."

Dawn finally noticed Terrador when he started walking up to him. "Young dragon, we must discuss your training." He sat down on the bed to Dawn's left. "Volteer and I have decided to move your training to the old dragon temple. Your mentor will be a dragon named Kyron. He is a mysterious dragon. But he is very attuned with the elements. He could help find your elemental powers easily."

The black drake kind of brightened up at the thought that he could learn his elemental ability. But he only had one question, "Ok, I'm fine with that, but what about Amethyst? Will she be able to come with me?" Dawn always felt comfortable around her. He really wanted her to come with him.

Terrador chuckled, "You two really are that close, aren't you? Well, that is not my decision to make. That's her choice to make."

"Of course I'm going." Both dragons turned to see that Amethyst was actually awake. One of her eyes was open just enough to where you only see the emeralds in her eye. "I mean, why wouldn't I? Someone needs to keep Dawn out of trouble."

Terrador laughed, "Well, I guess it's decided. You two will head over to the old dragon temple after your sparring match with Frost first thing tomorrow." Dawn let out a yawn. "Well, today has been tiring for you both so I will let you two rest. Good night!"

Terrador got up and left the tent, leaving the two dragons to themselves. They were turned towards each other. Amethyst tried to get some sleep, but always found herself lost in Dawn's eyes. Dawn was also having the same problem, finding himself lost in hers. The white dragoness giggled, "Ok, we need to get some sleep, so I'm just going to turn and look the other way.

Dawn sighed in disappointment, "Ok, you're right." Once Amethyst turned to look the other way, they both finally managed to lose themselves in the endless confines of their dreams.

The Next Morning

"How long till we get there?" Three young dragons were following the guardians as they were heading back to Warfang. These three new dragons were the remaining candidates. There were two earth dragons and one lightning dragon.

The male earth dragon spoke up, "Yeah, when are we going to be there? It feels like we've been flying for hours."

The female earth dragon rebutted, "We haven't been in the air that long."

Char said, "Bolt, Quake, Gaia, we are almost there. Just a little bit farther." The lightning candidate growled in irritation. The two earth dragons were conversating when they felt the wind start to pick up. The rest of the group seemed to notice as well.

Static was flying next to Char, "I don't know why but the winds starting to pick up speed. This doesn't feel natural. Something's wrong."

Suddenly, a small tornado came out of the sky. Char and Static both yelled, "Everyone move!" Luckily all the dragons managed to get out the way before the wind could knock them out of the sky. Char spoke, "Where did that come from?"

Static turned towards the candidates, "I need you all to make your way to Warfang! We will handle this from here!" All the candidates nodded and separated from the guardians.

Once they were out sight, Char said, "Guardians, keep a lookout. Something is hunting us, We need to be careful."

Frost interjected, "There!" He pointed towards the trees. Nothing looked out of the ordinary. But they noticed two light blue orbs staring at them through the foliage. "Who are you?!"

They heard a sinister laugh from the darkness, "How disappointing, you don't even remember me. I mean, I was there when you became guardians. And now I'm going to be here when your souls leave this realm." The blue eyes came closer as the creature flew out of the trees.

It was a dragon. It had scales that were as dark as the night, maybe darker. It also had six horns along the back of its head. It's belly and wing webbing was ruby colored. There were strange markings along its head and it wore jewelry on its front paws, neck, and tail.

Char growled, "You! So a traitor has decided to grace us with her presence! What do you want?!"

The dragon spoke, "Silence! You are in the presence of Cynder, The Terror of the Skies and the Dark Master's greatest general! And I'm here to cut your lives short!"


	13. Chapter 13

The guardians readied themselves as Cynder was ready to tear them apart. Char yelled, "Tremor! Go and warn the city, we'll distract her!" As Char turned back around though, she was gone.

When Tremor attempted to take flight, he felt pressure suddenly clamp down on his hind leg and he was slammed back to the ground. He turned to see Cynder with his hind leg in her maw. The other two guardians noticed. They rushed over to help him, but Cynder gave a quick twist of her head. A loud pop echo through the air as Tremor's leg broke. He screamed out in pain. Static fired a bolt of lightning at Cynder. She just moved her head to the left as it whizzed past her face. She let go of the injured earth guardian's leg as Char fired a fireball at her. She increased the wind movement around to quickly disperse the fire just before it made contact with her scales.

She smiled, "Is that all the protectors of this realm have to offer? I am quite disappointed."

Char growled, "Not even close!" The fire spread across his body, forming an armor of flames. "Let's see you put this out!" He charged at the black dragoness. She dodged to the left at the last second. He tried to stop his momentum but smashed against a tree instead. Static fired another bolt of lightning at the distracted dragoness. It was a direct hit! But she didn't flinch. She looked at the lightning dragon. Her eyes went red as stared at him. He felt his body suddenly lock up. He couldn't move. He felt this deep and instinctual fear by her just looking at him.

She started to walk up to him. He tried to move but his body wouldn't respond. "Crap, she must be using her fear element!" She gave an evil smile, knowing full well that he couldn't do anything to stop her. She stopped when her snout was almost touching his.

"How does it feel knowing that you can't beat me?" Her face seemed to relish in the fact he was helpless to her every motion.

"As bad as this does!" Tremor yelled from behind her when a pillar of earth hit her straight in the jaw. She stumbled back a couple of steps.

Since her gaze broke from the lightning guardian, he found he could move again. "She's stunned! This is my chance to end this." He felt his elemental energy build in his body. A massive electrical shock was building in his mouth. "It's time to end this!" The energy was about to release when Cynder suddenly turned back around to look at him. She grabbed him by his jaw and shut his maw closed. But the energy was already releasing. "Crap, NOO-"

The energy imploded, taking the Static's head with it. His skull exploded into meaty chunks all over the grass, staining the ground in blood. Tremor looked on in horror at the headless body of what used to be his friend. And Cynder just stood there, completely unaffected by the blast. She laughed. Someone died right in front of her and all she could do was laugh! This filled Tremor with anger. He wanted to rip her head off! She needed to pay for killing his friend. He attempted to get up only to have his legs buckle from underneath him and fall back to the ground. "He snarled, "You son of b****! I'LL KILL YOU!"

She just looked at him and shrugged him off. She started walking towards Char, who was still recovering from ramming into a tree. He looked on in fear. He couldn't let her kill another one of her friends. He opened his mouth and fired earth bullet at her. She knocked it aside like it was nothing.

She looked at him with an irritated look in her eyes. "You wanna die so badly, fine!" She changed course towards the broken earth dragon. "Tremor, the most forgettable earth guardian that ever lived. I barely even remembered your name. Your teammates are the true heroes. You should feel honored that I even uttered your name."

Instead of responding, he fired another earth bullet. She grabbed it with her bare paws. He wore a shocked expression on his face, "What?!" She threw it back at him, knocking him into a nearby boulder. His broken hind leg hit the rock, causing him to cry out in pain. He could barely move. He looked up as she continued to approach him.

She grabbed him by his throat and lifted him up off his feet. "You are nothing but an irritable thorn in my side. I'll make sure your death is slow and as painful as possible!" Upon finishing her statement, she spat a glob of poison on the dragon's wings. He screamed in agony as he felt the acid burn through the webbing on his wings. He stared at her with pained rage. He went to fire another earth bullet. But she fired a bolt of dark lightning down his throat. He felt his insides burn up. He coughed a pool of blood. The inside of his mouth was black and charred. He could barely breathe. She immensely enjoyed his pain but was surprised when he chuckled.

"You know, this… hurts… a lot! But… I think you… forgot something!" She pondered what he meant and then she realized that she left Char alone. She quickly to check where he was last. He had disappeared.

She walked back to earth guardian, who was still laying a puddle of his own blood. He seemed amused by the fact that she had failed to keep an eye on the missing fire guardian. "The most powerful general of the dark master and you can't get the job done!" She ignored what he said and picked him up again. She took her tail blade and slowly started to plunge it into the earth dragon's chest. He screamed as he felt the blade slowly pierce his heart. He felt his heart racing as the blade inch closer and closer. Then his heart stopped.

…

The sunlight shone through the cracks of the infirmary tent curtains. Dawn slowly started to wake up. He sat up, noticing the effects of the nerve bite had worn off. He looked at Amethyst as she still lay there, still deep in her dreams. He smiled, "One day, I'll tell her. But first, I need to settle things with Frost." He walked to and past through the curtains. Luckily, the infirmary was at the base of the stairs leading up to the temple. Instead of taking the stairs, he took to the sky and flew up the stairs. He reached the door to the temple and pushed it open. The room was empty so he just kept heading towards the arena where he assumed Frost would be waiting. As he walked into the arena, he was proven correct as Frost was sitting down in front of the sparring circle. He appeared deep in thought since the only thing you could hear was his breathing.

"So you're finally awake. That's good." Frost got and turned to look at the black drake. "But I guess we aren't here for pleasantries right?"

Dawn responded, "Not after what you did. I still haven't forgiven you."

"I didn't want to hurt her!"

"Whether you wanted to or not, it doesn't change the fact that you did! We just wanted to help!" Dawn felt terrible knowing that he was, no matter how he looked at it, partially responsible for her injuries.

"Help?! Saying that my father would be disappointed in me is "helping me"?! At least I actually I had a father!"

Just like that, Dawn's anger skyrocketed. He couldn't let that stand. First, he hurt his friend, then he insults his late parents. "How dare you!"

Both dragons readied themselves as they charged each other. Dawn knocked over Frost as he rammed into the center of his chest. They wrestled on the ground as they tried to rip each other apart. The black dragon gripped one of Frost's paws in his maw. He lifted him off the ground and slammed him back down into it. He did this twice before Frost managed to free his arm and pushed Dawn off. He quickly got up, ready to defend himself again.

"How could you? Why are you so cold-hearted?! Do you care about nothing?!"

Frost snapped, "The only things I cared about are dead! My mother was killed. My father was murdered! I have nothing else!"

Dawn stopped, "Wait, y-your father is dead." It now made sense. That was why he had left the night before. His father was killed that night.

"Yeah, something that happened to you right? But unlike me, you actually have something to care about! Amethyst, that dragoness you seem to always be with. Let me guess, you love her don't you?" Frost knew this was a sensitive topic for Dawn, but he didn't care. If he was going talk about his father, he was going to pull Dawn's strings too. "You love her but you don't have the courage to tell her, do you? Do you know what that makes you? A coward."

Dawn couldn't take anymore and let out an enraged roar. He lunged for Frost. He successfully landed on top of him and pushed him to the ground. He began to scratch at his face. Frost used his arms to block the constant strikes. But Dawn wasn't letting up. He was acting like a rabid animal. He backed up, grabbed Frost's leg and slammed him into one of the nearby pillars. The pillar cracked as he crumpled to the floor. Frost got up and immediately dodged as Dawn rammed into the pillar. But, the pillar gave way and fell. Dust spread the air. Frost covered his eyes and waited for the dust to clear. "I need to make sure that Dawn is ok. He was right below the pillar when it fell." As the dust began to clear, he saw a silhouette of a dragon. It was Dawn except he was buried beneath the pillar.

He attempted to push the pillar off of himself, but couldn't find the strength to lift it. Frost saw this and rushed over to him. He quickly grabbed the underside of the pillar. "Dawn I need you to lift on three!" Dawn prepared himself, "1...2…3!" They both pushed at the same time and managed to push the pillar off of the black dragon.

Dawn was exhausted and laid on the floor. Frost sat next to him, just as tired as he was. There was a long moment of silence between the two combatants. Dawn was the first to break it, "Why did you help me? I just insulted your father. I disrespected his memory. Why?"

"I helped you because I didn't wanna get blamed if something happened to you. I'm still gonna hold that against you."

Dawn chuckled, "Well, we're both orphans so I think there's more to it than that."

"Keep telling yourself that." Dawn smiled, knowing that he was probably lying. They finished speaking as Volteer and Terrador walked into the arena.

"Young dragons! Are you ok?" Volteer looked a bit concerned.

"A pillar fell on Dawn but other than that, we're fine." Volteer relaxed a bit but still rushed over to black drake.

Terrador spoke, "We'll have Amethyst heal him before they leave."

"Terrador, that sparring match… that wasn't really meant to see who was stronger was it?" Frost had figured it out.

The earth dragon chuckled, "You're a sharp dragon. No, It was actually meant to help you two create this middle ground. It was just to help you two understand each other."

"But we almost killed each other!"

"Yes, but you didn't kill each other right?" Terrador had a point. It was reckless to put the dragons against each other. But it did get the desired result.

Frost sighed, "I guess that makes sense."

"Glad you understand." Before they could continue, they heard a loud thud. "What was that?" A mole soldier ran into the room.

"Sir! The rest of the candidates have arrived, but only one of the guardians is present. He passed out and looks like he needs medical attention."

Terrador had a grim look on his face, "Take me to him, NOW!" They rushed out to quickly attend to Char, but what Terrador was afraid had happened did happen. The darkness is back, and it is out for blood.


	14. Chapter 14

Birds were chirping and the lush, green trees shone from the sun as Cynder landed outside of the wolves' den. She needed to speak to her master and update him on the situation. When she walked inside, the wolves were still asleep. She quietly walked past the group of male wolves packed around the burnt out fire. She thought she was the only one awake till she heard someone whisper, "And where have you been?" She turned to see Grimm standing behind her. His blood red fur was surprisingly well kept. His red eyes were locked on to Cynder's, awaiting an answer.

"That is on a need-to-know basis, and you DON'T need to know." She clearly didn't trust him. He has no right to question her since he is technically HER servant.

He hated being left out of the loop. But, her quiet but harsh tone sent the right message as Grimm just nodded and walked away. She turned back around and continued making her way to the back of the cave. It was dark but her long exposure to the darkness made easy to see. Once she reached the end of the cave system, she sat down and called out to her master. As she waited, she wondered how he would react to her failure to kill all the guardians. He would clearly be angry and likely she would be punished, But she wasn't going to hide anything from him nor try to hide behind excuses. Then she heard the familiar voice, "Cynder so glad to see that you have returned. Did you complete your mission?"

She shook her head, "No master. I only managed to kill two of them before one of the guardians escaped my grasp. He has most likely returned to Warfang by now." She expected him to lash out at her.

She could hear her master growl in frustration, "How… disappointing. I expected better. Though it is impressive that you killed two of the guardians, we cannot leave any loose ends. Now that he has seen you, we must prevent him from relaying who you are to the others. When the sun falls, finish the job. If we want to destroy everything they created, we must be more vigilant. I promise HE will pay for leaving you and taking something from me."

She bowed, "Yes, master, He will pay for my suffering… and we will rid this world of corruption and pain."

The dark master smiled, "Yes, now rest! You will strike when the moon shines brightly over the trees." Cynder simply nodded and curled up into a ball to rejuvenate her energy. She whispered, "He will pay… They will all pay," before letting sleep take her mind.

…

As Terrador followed the mole soldier, worried began to eat at the dragon. When he had only one guardian returned, he knew immediately that something tragic has happened. He reached the infirmary tent and pushed the curtain aside. The new batch of guardian candidates was gathered around the bed from which Char rested. He walked over to them, "Young ones, back up! Give him space." Amethyst had her paw on his chest. It was glowing with a golden hue and looked like it was healing the guardian. "How is he?"

Amethyst wasn't at all concerned, "He has no injuries other than a couple of bruises. It looks like he just passed out from exhaustion. But we need to give him time to rest."

Terrador turned towards the three candidates, "What happened out there? Did you see who did this?" The candidates looked at each other, expecting another person to answer.

Bolt stepped forward, "Well, we were almost to Warfang when a strong gust of wind hit the group. Luckily we all avoided getting knocked out the air. Char told us to separate from them and head to Warfang. I thought about asking why but he looked very serious so I kept my mouth shut. When we got Warfang, Char landed with us and passed out. That's really about all we know. We don't know who did this, we don't even know if anyone actually did anything!" Bolt slammed his paw into the ground, "Ugh! We shouldn't have left them!"

"No, don't blame yourself. I don't think there's anything you could have done to change the situation. Right now, we just need to focus on trying to find the other guardians." As he was speaking, Amethyst touched Char's forehead and focused on trying to interpret his emotions. She felt anger and confusion, but the strongest emotion she felt was grief. She dug deeper into his sadness to discover maybe what he was so sad about. Suddenly, images started flashing through her head. Images of blood, gore, and a black dragon. She gasped when the images stopped and she released his mind. A tear had rolled down her face while she was connected to his mind. "Terrador… I think I know what happened to the other guardians."

The earth dragon turned to look at her. "I think… from what I saw in his head… I think… they're both dead."

Terrador's face quickly turned to shock, "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I felt grief inside his mind. I saw… blood, stained all over the forest. And... a black dragon looming... over the headless body of Static. It took a couple of steps towards Char but then quickly turned its attention towards Tremor. Then Char ran away" She couldn't stand recalling all these details. It was absolutely gruesome and made her stomach turn every time she thought about Static's death.

Terrador knew this was traumatic for her, "Thank you, you do not need to say anymore. But this is a disaster. We only have one guardian to protect the city. We need to come up with a plan for this mysterious black dragon. Whoever they are, they will try to come after Char again. We need to prepare."

Dawn and Frost passed through the curtain as Terrador tried to formulate a plan. "Ok, what we need is to have the moles prepare the cities defenses. Volteer, Char, and I will prepare the lightning, fire, and earth candidates. Frost, Dawn, and Amethyst you three will head towards the old dragon temple to train under Kyron."

Amethyst objected, "But, my services are needed here! Someone needs to take care of Char while he rests."

Terrador predicted that she would say that and already had a response prepared, "We have other healers in town. They can take care of him. We don't want to put more stress than necessary on your shoulders. I understand your concern, but you have no obligation to help us. Besides, there are other dragons at the old dragon temple who could use your services."

Amethyst didn't want to leave her post knowing she could help. It was her job as a nurse to help those in need. But she trusted Terrador, so, "Ok, I'll go with them."

The earth dragon bowed, "Thank you. You three will depart immediately. We must start everyone's training as soon as possible! You are all dismissed to the training dojo!"

With that, all the candidates went off to their designated areas. Dawn, Frost, and Amethyst waited outside since they actually had no idea where to find the temple. Volteer walked up to the group, "Ok, young dragons, The temple is located North, behind what used to be the Well of Souls. Kyron will be waiting for you in the dojo. Now hurry along, we have much to do." The dragons nodded to Volteer, then to each other before flapping their wings and taking to the sky. Terrador walked out of the tent and watched as the three dragons disappeared into the horizon. Volteer spoke to him, "She's back, isn't she? Cynder has returned hasn't she?"

The earth guardian responded, "I'm afraid so. There are very few dragons that can defeat the guardians. She is clearly one of them. She helped us train the guardians so she knew how to fight them. She must be stopped!"

"But Terrador isn't it because of us that she chose to do this?!" Volteer sounded distraught.

"She willingly chose this path, Volteer. We tried to comfort her after Spyro's disappearance. But she is the one who killed Cyril, Tremor, and Static. We did all we could for her, but we cannot satisfy everyone. We tried to help her forget her past, but she relapsed. It is clear that she is nothing but a cold-blooded killer, no longer worthy of our sympathy." Terrador gripped Volteer's shoulders to emphasize his point, "She is not the Cynder that we know and care about. She is a monster… and all monsters must be put down." He let go of his shoulders and walked away, letting his words sink in.

Volteer whispered to himself, "But what about those who created the monster?"

…

The trip to the old dragon temple was surprisingly quiet. Despite their sparring match, there was still a bit of tension between Dawn and Frost. Not to mention, Amethyst wasn't exactly keen on being around Frost, considering he knocked her into a wall. So, Dawn and Amethyst flew close to each other for nearly the entire trip with Frost taking up the rear. They were passing the ruins of the Well of Souls when Dawn decided to ask Amethyst a question, "So, Amethyst, I've been wondering for a while. What inspired you to become a nurse?" She was a bit taken back from the question but was happy to share.

"Well, my mother was actually a nurse. She enjoyed helping people and I always helped her. I was there whenever she was helping a disabled dragon learn how to walk again." Amethyst smiled, "It truly moved my heart and I wanted to be just like her."

"What about your dad?"

Amethyst's smile quickly faded, "My mother told me that my father died in the battle of Warfang. I never knew him, and my appearance barely resembled his. I don't think about him all that often."

Dawn felt bad for asking her about it, "I-I'm sorry… I didn't mean to bring up such a bad memory."

"No, its… it's fine. I just wonder what he was like." Silence enveloped the group for a while. Frost heard them talking but tried not to pry on them too much. "Hey look! I think that's it!" Amethyst was pointing at a worn down building that resembled a church. There were a bunch of dragons out front, sparring with each other. There were dragons of all elements training in the courtyard. Fire was burning the ground, ice was spread all over, lightning was flying through the air, and the earth was constantly moving. The three dragons looked at each other.

Frost looked determined, "Are you guys ready?" Dawn and Amethyst nodded in response.

"Ok, Let's go find Kyron."


	15. Chapter 15

As Frost, Amethyst, and Dawn landed, a couple of dragons took notice but quickly went back to what they were doing. They started walking through the courtyard towards the temple. They also had to try to avoid getting hit by the debris flying around them. "Man, when they said other dragons would be training here, I wasn't expecting these many dragons to be training here," Dawn said aloud. As they continued walking, they also took in the scenery.

The temple grounds were covered in a light layer of snow, except where the dragons were sparring. There was also a small village off to the side, obviously to hold the large number of dragons. A small gravel path led up to the temple itself. It somewhat resembled the temple of Warfang, but it was slightly worn down.

Dawn was immediately snapped out of the scenery when something yelled at him, "HEY! Watch where you're going! You almost just killed me!" He at first looked in front of him, but no one was there. "Ahm, down here!" He looked down to see a small dragonfly. It had a golden glow and he looked kinda annoyed. "Seriously, why do I spend time with you, dragons? This is the fifth time this week that I've nearly gotten walked over. You guys need to watch where you're going!"

Dawn responded, "Oh, I'm sorry! I was just trying to take in the new town."

The dragonfly scoffed, "Yeah, it may look great on the outside, but it's falling apart on the inside. I swear I think the roof of my house is gonna collapse on top of me pretty soon."

Frost walked forward, "What is a dragonfly, like you, doing at a dragon temple? Doesn't your kind usually live in mushroom swamps?"

"Ok, you guys must be new. I've lived here for about five years! Everyone here knows me!"

The ice dragon asked, "Really? What's your name?"

The dragonflies' jaw dropped, "You seriously don't know who I am? I'm f*cking Sparx, the scourge of the despot and an Atlawa God!

Frost shook his head, "Nope, never heard of you."

The dragonflies' confidence deflated, "Oh, y-you never heard of me," but he quickly came up with an excuse, "You must have been living under a rock all your life."

Dawn jumped in, "But I haven't heard about you either."

Sparx yelled, "Can't you just let me have this?! Geez, you remind me so much of…" His voice trailed off. His frustration melted into sorrow.

Amethyst noticed and walked up to him, "Are you ok?" She felt the sorrow in his heart but didn't want to go too deep into matters that were not her own.

"I-I'm fine. Just… you remind of my brother… before he disappeared, " he sighed, "Welp, just… watch where you're going next time, OK? Bye." The dragonfly flew back towards the village. His shine seemed slightly diminished.

"Well, he's an interesting character," Dawn remarked.

Frost brushed it off. "Come on, we got more important stuff to deal with." The group began walking towards the temple doors. The door was round and circular, covered in ancient engravings. There was a light in the center of the door. The dragons looked at each other before Dawn went up to knock. Before he could, the door creaked open on its own. They glanced at each other again before shrugging it off and heading inside.

The hallway was covered in overgrowth and the only source of light was the torches on the wall. Amethyst walked close to Dawn as Frost led the way. They eventually reached a large room with a cylindrical shape. The light was shining through windows at the top of the walls. In the very center of the room stood a large statue of a dragon, which was also slightly covered in overgrowth. The statue was made of stone and its eyes were glowing yellow. Dawn gasped, "No way! This is a statue of Spyro!" The purple dragon was stuck in a heroic pose, showcasing his magnificence to the world.

"Why yes, this temple was built in honor of him after all." The three young dragons turned towards the new voice. It was a grey dragon. His scales were dull, having lost their vibrancy long ago. His eyes were also grey, with very little light behind them. His body was also quite frail, and one of his horns was broken. There were scars all over his body, indicating he fought in the wars. He also wore a necklace with a purple crystal hanging from it. He walked up to the three dragons, "Many people today are still puzzled from his mysterious disappearance. But, we can only assume the worst." He looked at the group, "My apologies, my name is Kyron, and you three must be the dragons I have been entrusted to teach."

"This is Kyron? He looks kinda frail," Dawn thought to himself. He spoke, "Yeah, my name is Dawn, his name is-"

"Oh, you don't have to tell me. I was informed by Terrador about you days ago. His name is Frost and her name is Amethyst." The grey dragon stopped for a second, contemplating something. "Ok, we have no time to waste. We must work on your elemental abilities. Frost, you have access to your ice abilities, so you will need to find applications for it. You must find new ways to use your abilities." The ice dragon nodded.

"Dawn, you haven't unlocked your abilities yet so I will personally see to your training. Amethyst… you have no element but you can accompany Dawn if you wish." Amethyst nodded. "Ok, now let us begin."

A quiet rumble in the room started to get louder. The dragons turned to see that the floor had opened and the statue was sinking down into it. Once the head was below floor level, the floor closed back up, leaving a big open space to train. Frost walked off to the side and started spewing out ice.

As Dawn walked over to his side, Kyron spoke, "I promise you young dragon, unlocking your element will not be hard. It is the mastering of the element that is difficult." They stopped and Kyron turned to face him. "Now we must start by relaxing your mind which will allow you to focus."

Dawn sat down and closed his eyes. He started breathing, slowly and rhythmically. "I want you to find your mana. For most of your life, it has remained dormant and blocked off. When you find it, we can work on opening it." He continued to breathe as he searched inside himself. He felt like he was so close to it, but couldn't find it. He began to grow frustrated as he failed to find his mana. "Young dragon, I can feel the tension in your mind. Slow down and be calm. Don't force it, things like this take time. Relax and continue looking, we are in no rush." The dragon continued searching in his heart, mind, and soul. Suddenly he felt something. It felt like it was in the very back of his mind.

"I found it."

"Good now, we must find a way to unlock it. It is usually a mental hurdle that keeps us from accessing it. We must find out what part of your mind is holding you back." The grey dragon thought for a bit and came up with an idea, "Amethyst, I hear that you can access memories. Maybe perhaps it's a certain memory that is holding him back?"

Amethyst was a bit scared to find out what he wanted to know, but, "O-ok." She placed her paw on the side of the young dragon's head. She closed her eyes and looked into his mind. There were a bunch of emotions running around in his head: Happiness, a bit of frustration, and skepticism. But a prominent emotion was actually fear. She dug deeper into his fearful emotions to discover what was causing them. Images started flashing through her head. A yellow dragoness being killed by a mysterious creature and a dark voice speaking to him. But she also felt his nerves from being around her.

When she released his mind, she took a quick gasp. She turned to Kyron and relayed what she saw. The grey dragon said, "Ok, it appears that your fear is holding you back. You fear to be helpless. That's why that dream with the yellow dragoness bothers you so much. You feel like you could've done something to help that hatchling." Dawn nodded. "Well, there are some moments that not everyone can be saved. It was just a dream, however. An ominous dream, yes, but a dream nonetheless. Now, let us try again."

Dawn closed his eyes and focused back towards his mana pool. Once he found it, he ran through what Kyron said in his head. He couldn't let his fear consume him. He needed to push his fear aside and focus on what is happening now. Suddenly the wall between him and his mana pool broke. "Excellent young dragon. You have opened up your mana pool. Now, this next part is up to you. You must find your element on your own. I could attempt to teach you but every dragon eventually stumbles upon it. It is more satisfying to discover an element on your own. Once we know your element, I can teach you how to use it. Come talk to me when you have found it."

The grey dragon walked out of the dojo and down one of the hallways with the door closing behind him. Dawn turned towards Amethyst, "Well, I might as well start looking."

Amethyst seemed distracted, "Amethyst, are you ok?"

She jumped a little, "Y-yeah, I just gotta go and deal with something real quick. I'll be back." She started walking towards the door that Kyron left through. It opened and closed as she passed through it. She started sprinting to catch up with Kyron. She managed to catch up to him before yelling to catch his attention, "Kyron!"

He turned to speak to the dragoness, "Yes, young dragon?"

She stopped to catch her breath, then she said, "I just wanted to ask if you're ok?"

He seemed confused by the question, "Of course, why do you ask?"

"Well, you know I can feel emotions when around other dragons or creatures. And… I can feel a deep sadness in your heart. And what worries me is that sadness feels like it's been there a really long time. It can't be healthy."

He sighed, "I promise you young dragon, I am perfectly fine."

"I'm not sure if I believe you." The response shocked him slightly, "I felt a tinge of guilt in your heart when you spoke just now. You lied and you feel guilty about it. You're hiding something. What is it?"

He began to grow frustrated, "I am hiding nothing."

"Stop lying! I can feel you lie every time! Just tell me what secret you're trying to keep. You shouldn't keep secrets from us!"

He snapped, "Enough! I do not need to be lectured on keeping secrets, especially from you! Everyone has secrets, even you! I may not feel others emotions, but I can feel their elemental energy. I don't sense a mana pool in you, but I do sense something else. You're also hiding something, but you're afraid of telling them, aren't you?"

She remained silent. "Your silence speaks volumes. Now leave before I decide to kick you out!" She scoffed, turned, and stomped away. He continued walking towards his room. When he reached his room, it was very lightly decorated. He had a mat on the floor and had a couple of books. He took off his necklace and placed the crystal in a chalice-like holder. He laid down and meditated, trying to calm his agitated nerves. He just hoped he could get their training over with as quickly as possible. He took on very few students since he enjoyed being alone. But, this group was different. He had a bad feeling about the next couple of days. He tried to take his mind off them by meditating. But he couldn't shake the feeling that something terrible was about to happen.


	16. Chapter 16

The moon shone over the land as Warfang sparkled like a diamond in the rough. The guards who were watching the gates to the city failed to notice the shadows moving behind them. The strange shadow moved through the city unnoticed. It slowly made its way to the dragon temple and stopped at the stairs. The infirmary tent was unguarded and it easily slipped inside. There were about ten beds in the room. There was only one patient and he was covered with a blanket. The shadow began to take form. Its twig-like limbs began to form wings. Two light-blue eyes appeared and pierced through the veil of darkness. A dragoness stepped out of the shadows and began to approach the bed. Her tail blade flicked up, ready to kill. She grabbed the blanket and threw it off, but was surprised by what was underneath. Instead of Char, it was just a bunch of pillows.

Someone yelled, "Surprise!"

Suddenly an earth bullet struck her across the face. She skidded back and turned towards the doorway. There were now six dragons in the room. They must have been hiding. One of them was taller than the rest and stood in the doorway.

He spoke, "Cynder, we've been expecting you."

"Terrador," she snarled. "I see you had the whelplings do your dirty work. Oh! How the mighty have fallen!"

"You're one to talk Cynder. You used to be a hero! You had defeated Malefor and saved this realm from its destruction! But here you are, once again, under the influence of the dark master."

She growled, "Yes, but the dark master has never failed me! He has always succeeded for me! You… You let the love of my life abandon me! You lied to me, saying you would find him, but you didn't! You tried to tell me to move on, to forget! To forget about my reason for living. That is why I left, and why I hate you!" She stood in an aggressive stance. She was releasing her frustrations.

Terrador retorted, "We had no idea that he was planning on leaving. But we comforted you anyways! We searched for him for three years! We did everything we could to find him. But YOU are the reason we are here, not him! You killed Cyril and you killed three of the guardians! And you dare say we failed you! No! YOU failed US. You failed this realm… You failed Spyro!"

She snapped, "I'LL KILL YOU!" She fired a bolt of black lightning at the group. Bolt responded with a bolt of his own. The negative and positive energy canceled each other out.

Terrador yelled, "Contain her!" Two green dragons stepped up and slammed the ground. The earth around Cynder's feet wrapped around them, restricting her movement. Ratha and Rathal both unleashed a stream of flames. Cynder covered herself with her wings to protect against the scorching heat. The pink and azure dragons pushed more energy in their flames. She struggled to block out the fire. But she used her wings and expanded them outward. This created a strong gust of wind which put out the flames and pushed the two fire dragons back.

Both earth dragons charged her. Cynder pulled her paws free of the earth. She smirked, grabbed them by their horns, and slammed into the ground. "How pathetic. Terrador, you can't even teach your students how to fight."

"Let them go!" Bolt fired lightning at the black dragoness. He would regret this move. Cynder grabbed Gaia and threw her at the lightning. It struck her and sent the energy crackling through her body. She screamed in pain as the energy ripped through her. She fell and lay convulsing on the floor.

The other earth dragon screamed, "I'll kill you!" before Cynder headbutted him, knocking him out.

She continued to enjoy herself, "Is that all you have to offer? You have chosen a pathetic group as this realm's next generation of guardians. It makes me kinda wish I stayed. Not really though!" She gave an evil laugh.

"Don't forget about us!" The two fire dragons stepped forward again. Before they could unleash their next attack though, Cynder's eyes turned red as she stared at them. Both of them stopped, unable to move. She slowly walked towards the two fire dragons before moisture hit her in the face. The female earth dragon had spat in her face.

Without looking at the injured dragon, she said, "You shouldn't have done that," before suddenly raising her tail blade and plunging it into the earth dragoness' chest. She screamed before Cynder twisted the blade, silencing her for good. Terrador stood there in shock as one of the candidates had just been killed. She smiled, "Yes, that's how it felt to lose him! You will pay for his sins. But not today." Her body faded back into the shadows before disappearing completely. Ratha and Rathal were released from their fear but they remained still. They had just witnessed what Cynder was capable of. And even they couldn't stop her.

...

The Next Morning

Snow was drifting down from the sky as Frost woke up from his slumber. He got up and stretched out his legs. The village folk allowed him to take refuge in one of the empty houses for the night. There was no wood for a fire but the cold didn't bother him too much. His stomach let out an audible rumble, sending a clear message that he was hungry. He walked out to the snow-covered road and started heading towards the canteen. The village was relatively quiet if you didn't count the sounds of wildlife around it. There were a bunch of dragons walking the streets every day. The canteen was made for a large number of dragons to eat there. It was no surprise that when he got there, Dawn and Amethyst were already there.

They took notice of him but continued talking to each other. He felt their eyes on him but he pretended to ignore them. He walked over to some of the mole chefs that were making the food. He simply asked for some deer meat. They walked back into the kitchen and came back out with a hunk of meat on a plate. He picked it up and took it to a table. He sat near Dawn and Amethyst but not directly next to them.

As he tore into his meal, he thought about the incident he had with Dawn the day before their sparring match. He still felt guilty about what he did. And he had never actually apologized to Amethyst. Dawn was also getting up to continue looking for his element and she hadn't finished her meal, so this would be the perfect time to do so. As soon as the black dragon was out of sight, Frost got up and walked over to the now alone dragoness.

He spoke to catch her attention, "Hey Amethyst."

She looked up at him, "Hey, Frost." She attempted to hide her distaste for him.

"So, I wanted to apologize to you."

"Apologize for what?"

"For attacking you, while you were trying to protect Dawn." He sat down in front of her. "I… let what he said get the better of me. When you hit me… I honestly deserved it. But my emotions controlled my actions. You… didn't deserve it and I just wanted to say I'm sorry." She didn't say anything at first. This made Frost kinda nervous. He was afraid of what she would say.

She sighed, "I forgive you." He looked kinda surprised by her response. She followed up with, "But this rivalry that you have with Dawn… Why? Why do you two hate each other so much?"

"I-I don't know."

"Well, I don't think Dawn hates you. At least, I don't think he wants to. You're just not giving him a reason to like you. So let me rephrase my question, why do YOU hate him?" She was sternly staring at him. She expected an answer.

"I… don't know."

She clearly didn't believe him. "Then why did you attack him when you first met?"

"I don't know!"

"You wouldn't attack him for no reason. So why did you?"

"I… I just…", he desperately searched his brain for a reason. "I just don't know! I should know but I just don't!" He was on the brink of tears. He tried to hold them back and keep his composure.

She tried to feel his emotions, to see if he was lying. While she did feel guilt, he felt guilty because of what he did to Dawn. So he wasn't lying. She thought to herself, "Why would he attack Dawn for no reason?" Then it suddenly clicked. "Frost, we need to go and take you to Kyron. Something's wrong here and I think he can help us."

Frost just nodded and followed Amethyst. As they headed into and through the temple, Frost was trying to stop himself from breaking down into tears. They stopped once they saw Kyron meditating. "Kyron, we need your help!"

He turned around, "Yes, young dragon?"

They ran over to him, "Remember yesterday when you said that you felt something inside me? The grey dragon nodded. "Well, is it in him too?"

He walked over to Frost and delve into his soul. He did feel it. And it felt a lot more present than what was in Amethyst. When he opened his eyes, he said, "Yes, and it's a lot stronger than what I felt in you. But I can get rid of it." Kyron took off his necklace and held it up. The crystal formed a purple aura around Frost. The crystal started cleansed Frost's soul. Whatever thing Kyron felt would no longer be present in Frost's body.

As the crystal was cleansing Frost, Amethyst said, "Wow, what is that crystal?"

"This crystal holds immense power. Some rumors say that Spyro himself infused his power into this crystal. I am solely responsible for protecting it. This crystal would be incredibly dangerous in the wrong hands."

"Ok, but what did it just do?"

"The crystal cleansed the corruption from his soul. Though it is quite troubling that he was corrupted for so long. My only question is when could he have been corrupted?"

She thought about it. There were only two instances when he could've been corrupted, when his mother killed and when his father was killed. It must have been when his mother died because he was there when it happened. "I think the creature that killed his mother corrupted him as well."

As the crystal finished, Kyron said, "Well, if that is all, you may both leave." Frost did leave but Amethyst stayed.

She still had one question, "Was the crystal the secret you were trying to keep from me?"

He sighed, "Yes, it was. Now can you please leave?"

She started walking towards the entrance. She didn't want to say anything but there was a tinge of guilt in his heart again, meaning he lied. But she didn't want to start an argument. So she just walked away

…

"YOU FAILED?!" Cynder had returned to her master to summarize what happened in Warfang.

"There were expecting me and they were prepared. They couldn't defeat me though. I even killed one of the candidates with ease. But I didn't want to kill Terrador right then and there so I retreated."

Her master growled in frustration, "I suppose that Warfang is weakened nonetheless. Tell Grimm to prepare his pack to invade Warfang. It will take a couple of days, but I have another mission for you. Tomorrow, you will head to the old dragon temple north of the Well of Souls. I felt the corruption within Frost's soul disappear. Only one thing can rid my servants of corruption and that is the power of a purple dragon. I hear that there is a special crystal that it is said to hold the powers of a purple dragon. I want you to look for it there, capture it, and bring it back to me. Kill anyone who gets in your way."

She bowed to her master then started back towards the mouth of the cave. The pack was awake and were caring for their loved ones. When she saw Grimm, he was taking care of his kids. He noticed her but his attention was quickly taken back by the pups clawing at his feet. Once she reached him, she said, "The dark master wants you to-"

He held his hand up. He whispered to his pups, "Ok, I need you guys to go to mama ok? Thank you." As soon as they were out sight, he stood up and looked at Cynder.

"The dark master wants you to prepare your pack for another invasion of Warfang. He will not accept failure this time, and neither will I." He simply nodded and headed towards his pack to begin preparations. She went to her quarters. There was nothing in it but just a bed. She curled up and laid down to sleep.


	17. Chapter 17

**Wow, 2018 was a great year. This story has gotten so much attention. So, I just wanna quickly thank those who are favoring or following this story. I also wanna give a special thanks to Traveling Master and HolyCross9. Your reviews are what keeps my drive going. You keep giving me a reason to continue writing this. So thank you, guys. Let's go, 2019!**

 **And real quickly, my chapters are going to come out at a slower rate from now on. I will be putting up chapters at a weekly rate. Ok, back to the story.**

Things were looking very bleak in Warfang. The news spread around the city about the earth dragoness' death very quickly. A funeral for the late guardian candidate was held. The rest of the candidates, Terrador, and Volteer were there. Her death hit everyone hard, especially Bolt and the other earth dragon. They hadn't left the burying site in the past hour since the funeral when Ratha and Rathal decided to try and talk to them.

Rathal walked up to the earth dragon, "Hey, Quake, how are you holding up?" He didn't answer. It was like he didn't even know Rathal was there or at least he didn't acknowledge him. "I know that you are still recovering, but I just wanted to let you know that we're here for you."

Quake muttered, "I know." A tear rolled down his cheek. "You know, we were best friends. We did everything together. We were always exploring the woods, hunting deer, and killing grublins. I used to have a crush on her as a hatchling. It faded away as we grew up and as we got to know each other. But I realized now that…" He choked up a little. "...I never stopped loving her. Gaia was a gentle soul and genuinely cared for those around her." Quake was trembling slightly, "And she was always defiant in the face of danger. That's why I admired her. I wanted to be more like her."

He slammed his paw into the ground, "But her death reminded me that I will never be as strong as her. She will always be better than me and I could have never hoped to best her. I… I don't deserve to be a guardian!"

Rathal spoke up, "Don't say that!" Quake snapped his head towards the fire dragon. "Never underestimate your own strength! I've known you for a very long time and I think you're one of the strongest dragons here. You were selected as a candidate for a reason. Besides, she would want you to become a guardian. So if there's anyone you should do this for, it's her."

That struck a note of determination in Quake's heart. He smiled and said, "You're right. I should do this for her. She would want me to!" He hugged Rathal, "Thank you. I… I needed that." The fire dragon just smiled and welcomed his hug.

As they were speaking though, Ratha had walked over to Bolt. "Hey, Bolt, how have you been?"

"Oh, I'm just peachy," he responded with clear sarcasm in his tone.

She brushed off his tone and said, "Listen, I understand how you may feel about what happened but-"

Bolt interjected, "But what? I need to realize that it's not my fault? Well, I am most definitely the reason why she is not here today. Because of my reckless actions, she wasn't able to fight back against Cynder. I know I didn't deliver the final blow, but I basically killed her. If I had not thrown that lightning bolt, she would probably still be here!"

"You need to stop blaming yourself for her death. You were trying to keep Cynder from hurting Quake and Gaia. You had good intentions, but you can't help the fact that it didn't go the way you thought it would. If no one blames you for her death then why are you blaming yourself?"

"How do you know no one blames me? You can't speak for everyone here, so how do you know?!" She didn't say anything. She couldn't respond because no matter how she looked at it, he was right. He knew he had won, "Hmph, that's what I thought. Now leave me alone."

She sighed and walked back to the tree she and Rathal were standing under before. Her brother was already leaning against the tree, waiting for her. "So, how did things go with Bolt?"

"Just as I thought, he blames himself for Gaia's death. I tried to tell him it wasn't his fault, but he wouldn't listen to me! It frustrates me, cause I want to help him so badly but I couldn't get through to him. How is Quake doing?"

"I think I cheered him up a little bit. He definitely seemed happier, but I'm not sure what we're going to do about Cynder. She was so much stronger than I thought she was. She was so terrifying that we literally froze in place just from her stare!"

Ratha giggled, "So you're scared of her?"

"What, no! She was just using her fear element. I wasn't scared!" He puffed his chest out slightly to try and look tough.

Ratha could see right through his bravado. Her eyes widened, "Oh sh*t, she's behind you!"

"What!" He stumbled as he turned around. He fell on his back.

As he looked behind him though, there was no one there. He realized he had been tricked when his sister started laughing.

"You're not a very good liar, are you?" She continued laughing, only furthering his embarrassment. She walked over and laid next to him. The clouds were a little darker than usual but she loved staring at them nonetheless.

"You know, we probably shouldn't be joking around like this. We need to prepare in case Cynder comes back."

Ratha said, "Well, yeah; but I'm trying to make sure everyone is in a good state of mind. Our focus and speed improve when we're relaxed. So that's what I'm trying to do. We need to make sure everyone is in the right mindset." She thought about it for a bit. "But you're probably right, we should go and train with Char." The twins got up from the ground and started heading towards the dragon temple in Warfang to continue training.

…

Things were quiet in the old dragon temple as Kyron sat in his quarters meditating. His eyes were closed and the only sound echoing in the room was his breathing. He felt something's presence around him. Not evil, but ancient. Then he heard a voice.

"Hello, Kyron." He opened his eyes to reveal a teal blue elder dragon. Scrolls were hanging off his legs and a cylinder shaped crystal hung around his neck. His presence gave off an ethereal glow.

Kyron seemed annoyed, "Chronicler, what do you want?"

"Just wanted to see if you have decided to finally reveal your secret."

"Well, I haven't, so you may leave."

The Chronicler just stood there though. "The longer you keep it, the more people you hurt."

"But it is better that they don't know."

"Cynder is coming for your crystal and you know that. You cannot keep this secret forever now."

"I will deal with Cynder. She is my problem, not yours." Seeing that there was no reasoning with him, the Chronicler yielded.

"Very well, I will leave you to it." His body faded away into nothing but just a warm glow. Once he was gone, Kyron simply went back to meditating.

…

Later That Night

"I just can't figure it out!" Dawn was talking to himself in his room as he kept failing to discover his elemental breath. "I've tried everything! I've tried to throw lightning, freeze the wall, move the earth, and breathe fire but none of it is working!" He threw himself onto his bed. He hated his room and the air in the room felt stale. He was just about to go to sleep when he heard a knock on the door. He got up and walked over to answer it. When he opened the door, he was hit with a gust of cold air. He actually kinda liked it. Though he didn't like the cold, some wind was better than no wind. He left his thoughts when he realized Amethyst was standing in front of him.

"Hi, Dawn; sorry to bother you." She looked tired with bags under her eyes.

Dawn noticed and said, "Are you ok? You look like you've been having trouble sleeping.

"That's because I have. I came to ask if I could… sleep with you?" His face lit up like a Christmas light.

He became a bit skittish. "Uh, s-sure. C-come on in." He led her to his bed and she laid down.

She gave a weary smile, "Thank you, Dawn."

"You don't have to thank me." He walked away to sleep on the floor.

"Wait, are you going to sleep on the floor?"

"Yeah, I decided that you can have the bed. I'll sleep here tonight."

"Actually…" She hesitated, but she gathered her courage, "... when I said I wanted to sleep with you, I meant I wanted to sleep next to you."

"No, i-it's fine. You can have the bed." It's not that he didn't want to sleep with her. He was just trying to be kind. He expected her to give up and just go to sleep.

To his surprise; however, she got up, walked over, and laid down next to him. She curled up into a ball, determined to sleep beside him. "I said you could have the bed."

"But I want to sleep next to you. If that means sleeping on the floor, then so be it." She wasn't going to leave his side.

Seeing that he couldn't win, "Ok, fine! I'll sleep in the bed."

She smiled as they both got up. When they laid down, they rested their heads while facing each other. She said, "Good night," before kissing him on the cheek. He felt his face go red, but Amethyst had already closed her eyes, so she didn't see. Though he was hesitant at first, he draped his wing over her before he closed his eyes and fell asleep next to her.


	18. Chapter 18

Everything was quiet as Cynder approached the dragon temple. It was late at night when no one was out. There were also no guards, so she just strolled right in. The door opened for her and she walked into one of the hallways darkest corners and disappeared into its shadows. She transversed the grounds, searching for the crystal. She was glad no one was around as it made her job easier.

The temple was slightly familiar but was still new to her. It resembled the dragon temple that Malefor had used before it was plunged deep into Earth's core. Its layout had changed since then, so she was forced to search through the temple. It was also dark, but this posed no problem for the Dark Master's General.

As she was sneaking through the hallways, she noticed a light dimly shining from one of its rooms. She approached the room and peeked inside. There were only two candles illuminating the room. There was almost nothing in the room except for two things: a meditation mat in the middle of the room and a dragon sitting on top of it. The grey colored dragon had it's back turned to her and didn't seem to notice her. Then it spoke.

"So you've finally decided to grace me with your presence, Terror of the Skies. I know why you are here. Show yourself."

Cynder realized she was caught and her body separated from the shadows. She responded, "If you know why I am here, then give me what I came for and maybe I'll let you live."

He chuckled, "Even if you could beat me, I would never surrender the crystal to your master." The dragon turned around, "My name is Kyron, and I am the protector of this great power! I swore I would never allow this crystal to fall into the wrong hands. And that includes you. I have studied you for years, preparing for the day you would try and take it. So go ahead and give it your best shot!"

She smiled, "It would be my pleasure!" She opened her mouth and fired a black lightning bolt at him. He held out his paw as it made contact with it. "What!" To her surprise, the lightning did not disperse through his body. Instead, it remained condensed in his paw. Then, he redirected it, leaving a black mark across the stone wall.

She was a bit shocked but quickly recovered by launching a glob of acid at the grey dragon. When it was in range, he whipped around and struck it with his tail. Instead of popping and burning away at his tail, it deflected back at Cynder. She dodged as it exploded and sizzled across the ground. She growled in frustration. She couldn't figure out how he was deflecting her elements.

"You must not know who I am Cynder. Not only have I studied you, but I have also spent years studying the elements as well. I know how to counter every single element you throw at me. That is why you won't win."

She roared, "Counter this!" Her eyes contracted and turned red as she utilized her fear element. He didn't move. She laughed, "What's wrong, scared?" The dragoness enjoyed herself, thinking she finally caught him.

He smiled, "No, I'm just too busy pitying you." Her jaw dropped as he took a step towards her. "You see, your fear only works if the enemy subconsciously fears you. But as I have explained already, I know how to counter all elements. In order to counter your fear, I trained myself subconsciously to no longer fear you." He started walking towards her.

"Stay back!" He continued walking towards Cynder. She raised her wings and flapped them once, creating a strong draft. But he pushed through the harsh wind. It didn't even slow him down.

She used her last resort. Her body began to glow with convexity. She opened her maw and fired a stream of Aether. Kyron pulled off his necklace and the crystal fired its own beam of convexity. The two streams clashed, but Kyron continued to walk towards Cynder. She pushed more energy into her breath, but the crystal seemed to match her power. She tried to push more, but she was running out of energy to use. Seeing that she couldn't maintain the beam, she stopped the stream and dodged to avoid the crystal's Aether breath.

She scowled, "How did you do that? Only I and the purple dragons can use convexity breath."

"The crystal has a direct connection to the Aether. It has the powers of a purple dragon contained within it. I was taught how to use it. And I am not afraid to use it." He stopped in front of her. "Try as you might, you won't take this crystal."

She snarled, "Well; now that I know the legends are true, I will take that crystal because I am Cynder, the Terror of the-"

"Do you not remember who you used to be!" He interjected. "You used to be a defender of the realm. You conquered your past and defeated Malefor just to become his puppet again. I wonder, what would Spyro think if he saw you now?"

"Don't you dare mention his name in my presence. He abandoned me-"

"What would your son think?"

She froze. She seemed confused. "I… I have no son."

"You don't remember the hatchling that you gave life to?! The dragon you abandoned! Though you may act like you don't have a son, you hesitated just now. You know who I'm talking about, whether you remember him or not."

"N-no! I don't remember having a son!" She shook her head, trying to deny it.

"You do! And I don't have to explain who the father is."

"No, it can't be. No! NO! He can't be! I refuse to believe it! He abandoned me! If I had a son, he would be the last dragon on Earth that I'd ever… You're lying!" She took off before Kyron could say anything else. She raced through the halls, trying to get away from the grey dragon. Once she made her way outside, she spread her wings and took off into the night sky.

Once she was well out of sight from the town, she landed on top of a nearby tree. She sat there, trying to calm herself down. Her brain couldn't comprehend what she was just told. Or; rather, she didn't want to comprehend it. Without even realizing, a tear had rolled down her cheek.

She thought about going back to her master but decided against it. He wouldn't accept a third failure from her. She needed to take that crystal. But she couldn't confront Kyron. She needed to find a different way to take it from him.

She was tired though. Whatever plan she came up with, it would need to wait for tomorrow. She snuck back into the town and took refuge in one of the empty houses. She curled up in one of its darkest corners. She closed her eyes, closing the blinds of her mind.

…

The Next Day

The morning sun was rising as Dawn's eyes twitched open. He was still laying down in his bed next to Amethyst as the curtains of his mind opened. Surprisingly, she had moved closer to him while they had been sleeping. Her chest was almost touching his and her head was sitting just below his muzzle. She felt warm and Dawn almost didn't want to get up. But he didn't want to stay in bed all day.

Reluctantly, he started to move slowly. He folded his extended wing covering Amethyst back to his side and was about to get off the bed. But as he tried to move his tail, he found that his tail was actually wrapped around hers. Or maybe it was her tail wrapped around his, he couldn't tell. He blushed as he tried to unravel his tail. She turned a little, causing him to freeze. He was worried she woke up but she was merely adjusting her position on the bed. He continued to try and separate their tails.

Finally, he managed to unwind his tail. He was about to go out for the day when he noticed something. Amethyst was shivering a bit. He grabbed a blanket and gradually covered her up. He took one last look at her. She looked at peace. Like she was truly happy. "She looks cute when she's sleeping," Dawn thought to himself. Before he left, he kissed her on the cheek. She cooed softly. This made his face go tomato red, but he didn't mind. His black scales made it hard to notice when he was blushing anyways.

He opened the door and walked outside. He strolled through the town with each step crunching against the snow. What he didn't notice was that Cynder was following and watching him in the dark alleys. She had finally come up with a plan to take the crystal from Kyron. And Dawn was the key to it. She was watching him to find the perfect time to strike.

Dawn continued walking down the street before he heard someone running towards him. Someone yelled his name. He looked back as a light blue dragon was trying to catch up with him. It was Frost.

Frost greeted him, "Morning, Dawn." The black dragon turned away from him and didn't respond. The ice dragon knew he was probably going to get that type of response. "Listen, I've been meaning to talk to you for a while. There's something I want to get off my chest."

Dawn was didn't really want to talk with Frost, but it did pique his curiosity. "Ok, what is it?"

"I've… just been wanting to apologize to you… for everything: beating you up when we first met, insulting your parents, and biting that nerve in your neck." He stopped and took in a deep breath, composing his thoughts. He continued, "I let my anger with my father seep into my social life. I let my rage control my actions and others suffered because of me. You didn't deserve that beating I gave to you. No one deserved ANY of the beatings I dished out." He bowed his head, "I'm sorry for what I have done to you and I hope you can forgive me."

Dawn was stunned. This was the first time Frost had ever apologized to him for anything. It made him think about not what Frost did to him, but what he did to Frost. He muttered, "I forgive you."

Frost looked at him, "You do?"

"I do. In fact, I have to apologize too. I insulted your father. I called you a disappointment. I let my rage get the better of me and I attacked you! I may have lost my parents, but I have never had to witness my parents' deaths. I shouldn't have made light of your father's death."

Frost shook his head, "But I can understand why you did. You didn't know that my father had died. I knew your parents were missing and still made fun of you. After what I had done to you, you had every right to do what you did." He paused for a moment, "But I forgive you." They shook each other's paw. Frost was finally glad to put this rivalry behind them.

"Well, I have to continue looking for my element, so I'll see you later." They nodded to each other before going their separate ways.

Later That Night

Dawn was quietly walking home. Usually, Amethyst would also walk with him, but a severely injured dragon needed her assistance. So Dawn was walking home alone that night. He was following the street lights home when he heard something. It sounded like a whisper. It came from one of the dark alleys he had just passed. He decided to investigate. The further down he went into the alley, the more distinguishable the voice became. It sounded female and it was whispering his name. "Something's wrong here," he thought to himself.

Then, he realized his mistake when it said, "Dawn… you're mine!" Without warning, he felt something strike him across the chest. He went flying into one of the side walls. His head hit the wall, stunning him. He tried to get up, but a crushing force came crashing down on him and held him there. He couldn't move and couldn't even see his attacker.

The only thing he could see other than the darkness was two piercing light blue eyes. His eyes widened, "You!"

"Aww, you remember me, I'm flattered." She raised her paw and brought it down on his face. Pain shot through his head. He tried to get up again, but his consciousness faded into black. She grabbed his tail in her maw and dragged him away into the dark confines of the shadows. Now that she had him, she could finally set her plan into motion.


	19. Chapter 19

**_At Warfang_**

At Warfang

Crash!

Rathal jumped from her bed. She looked around her room, seeing if anything had fallen or broken. She was having a nice dream before the sudden noise had woken her up. Seeing that nothing had shattered, she got up and walked out into the hallway to find the source of the disturbance. As her body was waking up, she felt vibrations resonating at inconsistent intervals beneath her feet. "Sounds like some of the other guardians are sparring or something. No, that doesn't make sense. Why would they be up this late at night? I need to go and see what's happening," she thought to herself.

She started towards the stairs before the noise rang through the air again.

Crash!

It sounded closer than it was before. As she traveled down the steps, the vibrations were getting stronger. She cautiously stepped out into the sparring arena. It was then that she discovered what had been causing that noise.

In the center of the arena, two dragons were fighting. One was a yellow dragon with symbols on his legs that resembled lightning bolts. The other was a green dragon with curved horns like Terrador's. It took her a couple of seconds to realize it was Bolt and Quake. This didn't look like a sparring match. They had been slamming each other into the walls surrounding the area. It looked like they were trying to rip each other apart.

"Sh*t, I didn't realize this was happening till now! I need to stop this!" She started sprinting towards the two male dragons wrestling and falling over each other.

She yelled out to them, "Guys stop!" They were so focused on hurting each other that they paid no attention to her. Quake used his club like tail and struck Bolt, sending him flying into another concrete wall. Rathal grabbed him by his tail and pulled him back. "What do you think you're doing?"

Quake growled through clenched teeth, "Making him pay!" He shook her off and charged at Bolt.

Though he was still recovering, Bolt sidestepped the earth dragon. Quake hit the wall with full force, severely stunning him. Bolt took that time to catch his breath.

Quake yelled, "You… you're the reason why she isn't here!" His visage was contorted in rage. "I loved her! And you took her away from me!"

"I wasn't trying to hurt her! I was trying to help you both!"

The earth dragon snarled, "How is taking the life of my best friend helping me? You weren't trying to help us. You were just trying to hurt Cynder!" He slammed his paw into the ground, causing a tower of the earth to erupt from underneath Bolt.

It drilled into his jaw, sending Bolt up into the air before falling to the ground. The earth dragon pulled himself to his feet. But he was tackled by Ratha.

"No! I won't allow this to go on any further!" She held his paws tightly, preventing him from breaking free. He struggled and tried to wrestle out of her grip. Ratha's tail rose over her head, threatening to strike.

The end of her tail was dark green. She was a unique dragon, gifted with the ability to inflict poison with her tail. She usually used her fire simply because it disposed of enemies rather quickly: but the poison was a very effective intimidation tool.

As soon as he noticed the tail, he relaxed and stopped his attempts at escaping. She said, "Now, what is going on here?"

"Nothing. We were just having a friendly sparring match."

She was skeptical. "A sparring match? This late at night? I doubt it. Tell me why you were actually fighting."

"It's none of your business!" He sounded annoyed.

"He's blaming me for Gaia's death." Bolt had gotten up before interjecting. He walked up to Ratha, "Guess you were wrong about people blaming me."

"Quiet," she turned her attention towards the earth dragon. "Quake, you can't blame him. It wasn't his intentions to hurt her. He was trying to help you two! It wasn't his fault!"

Quake responded, "You didn't have a personal relationship with her. She was my childhood best friend! She used to be my crush! What if your brother was in her place instead?"

Ratha snapped, "Enough! You don't get to talk about my brother like that! Besides, arguing and fighting is not gonna get anything done. When Cynder returns, she won't stop with Gaia. She will kill everyone! Driving this wall between us will guarantee it! Would you rather everyone die than work together? Are you really going to let her win?!"

They remained silent, She scoffed, "That's what I thought. Now, I suggest that you two go and try to get some sleep if you don't have to go to the infirmary first. But seriously, you both have to be better than this." They both reluctantly started heading towards their dorms.

Once they were out of earshot, she sighed with frustration. "Why do I feel like I'm the only one who's focused on the real problem? She's trying to tear us apart. And the worst part is that it's working!"

She punched the wall, leaving a hole. She let her posture slump as she sat down. She just felt tired. "I've been trying so hard to keep these guys in line, to keep spirits up, and to stop their bickering. But I can't do it anymore!" Ever since the candidates split up, Ratha had taken somewhat of a leadership role. She usually went around encouraging and helping the other candidates. She was able to since she was well educated with her abilities as a fire dragon, while her brother trailed behind her.

Then she heard someone say, "You know, you shouldn't beat yourself up like that." She felt someone wrap their arms around her. She looked over her shoulder to the sight of an azure blue muzzle.

"Rathal, you shouldn't come up from behind me like that. I'm kinda tempted to punch you right now."

He chuckled, "Well, I'd appreciate it if you didn't. Besides, you wouldn't want to hurt your little brother trying to comfort you right?"

Ratha smiled, "No I wouldn't. But what are you doing awake?"

"Well, I was woken up by a loud boom sounding through the dorms, so I came to see what it was. When I got here, I had heard what you had said. You shouldn't be so hard on yourself."

"Someone has to take charge. I have to make sure everyone is ready for Cynder when she returns. That includes making sure this group doesn't fall apart," Ratha stated.

He had a concerned look on his face. "But you're stretching yourself thin. I understand you're just trying to help the group, but I'm worried about you."

She didn't say anything. He sighed, "I just... I just want to make sure you're okay. As your little brother, it's my job to worry about you. As my sister, you know I would do anything to make sure you're okay. Even if one of us had to die, I would happily take the blade to keep you alive."

Ratha turned around with a shocked look on her face, "Don't talk like that! If you did die, I'm not sure how I would make it without you."

"Ratha, if I ever met my end, I would never leave you. Even as a ghost or a spirit, I would always remain by you till the bitter end," He hugged her, "because I love you and I care about you."

Ratha hugged him back. They stood in that spot for a couple of minutes before Rathal spoke again, "Ok, we should go and get some sleep. We're gonna need it for tomorrow."

"Yeah, you're right." They split from each other and headed back to bed.

…

Back at the Old Dragon Temple

It was morning when Amethyst woke up. She had gone home last night instead of heading to Dawn's house because she assumed he was probably asleep. She didn't want to wake him up, so she went back to her house instead.

She slowly got up and rubbed her eyes. She lifted herself off of her bed and onto the floor. She opened her front door and walked outside. She started making her way to the canteen. As she was walking, she stopped at Dawn's house. Usually, he would be waiting outside for Amethyst. But he wasn't today. "He must have slept in today. I guess I should wake him up."

She walked up and knocked on his door. "Dawn, are you there? Wake up, you dummy!"

No response. Amethyst knocked on his door again. "Wake up Dawn!"

Again, nothing but silence. She thought to herself, "I guess I need to go inside to wake him up." Amethyst grabbed the doorknob, twisted, and pushed the door open. She was surprised to find that he wasn't there. In fact, his bed looked was in the same condition today that it was when she woke up yesterday. "That's strange. He wouldn't leave to train without me. But, his room looks the same as yesterday when I left. It's almost as if he didn't come ho-." Then it hit her. "What if he didn't make it home last night?!"

She rushed out of his house and immediately took to the sky, heading for the dragon temple. For once, she wished she was wrong. She needed to make sure he wasn't with Kyron. Once she arrived at the temple entrance, she continued flying through its hallways. Her heart was racing and she was nervous. It scared her knowing she had NO idea where Dawn was. She reached the main dojo and spotted Kyron.

He was casually strolling through the temple before the white dragoness landed in front of him. She had an extremely troubled look on her face. "Kyron have you seen Dawn today?"

"No, I haven't. Isn't he usually with you?"

She anxiously responded, "Yeah, but… he wasn't home when I got to his house. And what worries me is that when I went inside to wake him up, nothing in his room had moved from when I had woken up yesterday. I'm worried he never made it home."

The old dragon sat there, analyzing the situation. "If he truly didn't make it home, then considering my encounter from last night, there is only one assumption that can be made," he thought. "Young dragon, I think I may know what happened to him."

"You do?! Please tell me!" He's never seen her so concerned about something like this before.

"If I would have to guess, he has probably been kidnapped."

"Kidnapped?!" She said with a horror-filled expression, "Who would have wanted to kidnap him?"

"A dragon that confronted me last night, Cynder. She wanted to take the crystal hanging around my neck." Kyron never wanted to tell Amethyst about the confrontation between him and the dark general, but he had no way of telling her what happened to Dawn without mentioning it. "She failed, but she probably kidnapped Dawn and will likely try to use him as a bargaining chip."

"Cynder?! But she helped defeat Malefor, why is she kidnapping people?"

"The Cynder you know is either gone or buried deep under her dark persona. She became that way when Spyro left her." He looked at the ground, "If only he knew about the damage his absence would cause, but that is not important right now. What is important is that we must find Dawn."

Amethyst stood tall, "I'll do anything to find him. Where do we start?"

He held up his paw, "I will send out a search party. You must remain here and continue your duties as a nurse. I cannot allow you to get involved."

She grew frustrated, "But I want to help!"

Kyron said, "I understand that you care about him. But, you are one of the best nurses we have. We cannot afford to lose you."

Amethyst yelled, "I don't care! I want to help find Dawn! Being without him is almost like… like-"

"...like you've lost a part of yourself," Kyron muttered.

Amethyst had heard him, "What was that?"

"Nothing, but I stand by my statement. You will remain here and continue helping the sick and injured. Just please… trust us. We will bring him home. I swear to the ancestors that we will find him," he reassured her.

Defeated, she nodded and walked away. She didn't say anything but she had felt another tinge of sadness echo through his heart.

Kyron muttered, "I hope he isn't the only one we bring home."


	20. Chapter 20

It was cold and damp as Dawn opened his eyes. He couldn't see much in front of him. All he could recognize was the cold, metal bars of a cage surrounding him. It was quiet and only the sound of water droplets hitting the floor could be heard. There was almost no light, completely engulfing the cave in darkness.

Dawn stood up to release some tension from his joints. He felt something tug on his tail. He looked behind his back and found that his tail had been chained to the back of the cage. This was to prevent escape and to keep him from getting close to the cage door.

"Where am I?" He wondered. "Ugh, my head is pounding! I feel like I was hit by a Golem or something."

He looked around to try and get a sense of his surroundings. But, even when trying to, he still couldn't see ten feet in front of him.

He yelled out, "Hello?!"

No response. His voice echoed through the far reaches of the cave. Hearing his own voice, he sat back down in disappointment. He shivered slightly. It was chilly inside the cave, so he curled up into a ball to try and keep warm.

Suddenly an orange glow appeared next to the cage. It emitted a warming heat, keeping Dawn from freezing. He looked at it, "It looks like a torch. But how was it lit?" he asked himself.

Then, he heard a bone-chilling laugh. He turned back around and there were two light blue eyes staring at him. He growled and snapped into a defensive position. "You! Who are you?!" It was too dark to see her face.

She merely laughed again. "That is none of your concern. All you need to know is that I'm going to use you to get what I want."

"And what would that be?"

She chuckled. "You really are a curious dragon. You're asking all these questions AND you think you're going to get an answer? You are naive for believing I would tell you anything!" She struck the cage with her tail, sending it swinging into the wall. It smashed against the wall, sending Dawn flying into the metal bars. He hit them with a loud clang, as his horns hit the steel, stunning him. She did this several times.

Then she yelled, "YOU are the one inside that cage, not me! You have no power in this situation!"

Pain pulsed through his body, intensifying his agony with every heartbeat. After ten minutes of pain rushing through his body in waves, his muscles relaxed and soothed his suffering. She watched him the entire time, keeping a close eye on them while also relishing in his pain.

She spoke, "Don't ask another question, and maybe I won't hunt down all your friends, except maybe your white dragoness friend."

Dawn tried to get up. "You… won't touch her!" His knees buckled and he collapsed. He wanted to get up but his body wouldn't respond.

"I...I have to protect them! I can't let this….this…. thing hurt anyone else! I have to protect my friends! I have to protect Amethyst!" he desperately thought to try and encourage himself to get to his feet.

He was breaking down in tears. "Come on, Dawn… get… UP!" But his body didn't budge and at last, he gave up.

She laughed again, "You pathetic whelp! You want to be a guardian, but it only takes a couple of attacks before you are rendered immobile. You will never be a guardian, much less a hero! Now, enjoy your solitude, because you're going to be here a while!" She walked away, leaving him in a puddle of his own tears.

…

Back at the old dragon temple, Frost was at the canteen. He had heard about Dawn's sudden kidnapping but was told that he wasn't ready to look for him. Kyron had said, "You must complete your training first. And I do not want to endanger the life of my students. You will stay and help keep Amethyst calm, knowing she has an ambitious desire to find and save Dawn."

And that's exactly what he was doing. Frost stayed near Amethyst nearly all day, making sure she wouldn't do anything reckless. Nothing seemed peculiar about her behavior. Until they were walking home.

When she was walking down the street, she suddenly stopped by Dawn's house. Frost noticed and stopped. Amethyst opened the door to the empty house.

She walked inside. Seeing this room made her think of Dawn. She strolled over to his bed. No matter how many people tried to comfort her, she felt a distinct feeling of isolation. She just felt like she was on her own.

She sighed, "You are the only one I always felt comfortable being around. I still remember the night you saved my life." She seemed to take a moment as she shed a couple of tears. She continued, "I… fell for you that night. And I want nothing but to find you and save you as you did to me."

Those couple of tears turned into a stream. "I feel so… alone without you. I was going to tell you how I felt! I'm a coward for not being able to tell you! All I can hope for is that you come back home and that you'll feel the same. Either way, I miss you." She wiped away her tears.

She lifted herself up onto the bed and laid down. Her eyelids felt heavy and she drifted off into slumber.

Frost had heard everything she had said. He felt bad for her. He thought to himself, "I wish I could do something to help her!"

Then he decided, "I'm going to find Dawn… and kill the son of a b*tch that took him! I'll start looking tomorrow morning." Frost took his leave and headed home.

…

Things were bustling as the wolves prepared for their invasion. Grimm was heading towards the back of the cave to speak to his master. Once he arrived, he kneeled and called out to him, "Master, the invasion force is almost ready. We should be ready to invade by tomorrow morning."

The voice responded, "Good, and I do not expect failure. There will be consequences if you fail me again."

"I know master, but what about Cynder? Will she be helping us?"

"No, she has her own mission to accomplish. But your pack should be large enough to take Warfang. Now go! Prepare yourself, because we invade at the break of dawn. Tomorrow, you will have your first taste of power!"

"Master, I'm not looking for power. I'm just looking for the best future for my family and I will do anything to give them a better life than mine."

The voice chuckled, "Of course. Now go!" The pack leader got to his feet and headed back out towards the mouth of the cave. Hundreds of wolves were sharpening their weapons and preparing themselves for the battle to come. Grimm was walking when he felt something clamp onto both of his legs. He looked down to see that two of his cubs had hugged his legs.

"Hello, my little ones!" One of the cubs had a snow white pelt and the other a dark black pelt. However, they were both crying. "Is there something wrong?"

The white cub said, "Papa, please don't leave again. We miss you when you leave."

The black cub also said, "Yeah, please don't leave us!"

He crouched down and hugged his two children. "Listen I understand that you don't want me to leave. I don't want to leave either. But it is a necessary evil. I want you to live in a home, not a cave! You two deserve more than that. And in order to give you what you deserve, I must leave you one last time." A tear rolled down his furry cheek. "I love you too."

Both young wolves said, "We love you too." They remained embraced, taking in what could be their last moments with their father.

Grimm released them. "Now, you two go and get some sleep." Both cubs ran back towards their home. The blood wolf smiled before leaving to finish preparations.

…

The Next Morning

Kyron sat in his room. He was contemplating the decision before him. He had managed to keep his secret for many years. Though it might be time to finally reveal it, he needed someone's help. He spoke his name, "Chronicler, I need you."

Almost instantly, the Chronicler appeared. "What do you need me for, Kyron?

The grey dragon held the purple crystal in his hand. "I need you to remove the spell lock on the crystal."

The Chronicler just looked at him, "Why should I do that? I thought you wanted to keep your secret."

Kyron responded, "Please Ignitus… the world depends on it."

The teal blue dragon seemed a bit surprised but smiled. "I haven't heard you call me that in years. Very well, I will release the lock."

The Chronicler walked up to and tapped the crystal. It emitted a blue glow before dying away. Kyron put the crystal back around his neck.

The teal dragon stepped back, "It is done. The next time you use the crystal, your secret will remain a secret no longer."

Kuron nodded, "Maybe it shouldn't have been a secret in the first place. Either way, thank you Ignitus."

"No Kyron, Thank you." The Chronicler faded away.

Kyron stood up with a new resolve. "Now, it is time to find my student and end this once and for all!"


	21. Chapter 21

_**At Warfang**_

Things were slow as the mole soldiers ran their patrol routine. Ever since Static and Tremor's deaths, the city has been on full alert. The soldiers were on constant surveillance and guarding the wall, determined to keep their city safe.

One of the soldiers was running his daily watch shift when he noticed something. There were vibrations echoing through the walls. He looked out to find its source. As he peered out upon the forest, nothing immediately seemed out of the ordinary. Then, he noticed a wolf hiding in the foliage. He didn't think anything of it at first. But more and more wolves started to appear. They were marching towards the city. That's when the soldier realized what was actually happening.

He called out, "SOUND THE ALARM!" Everyone hastily prepared themselves as the alarm bell was sounded. It rung throughout the city. Citizens began moving towards the nearest war defensive shelters.

The elder guardians and the candidates had heard the alarm and were heading towards the wall. They jumped on top of the wall.

Terrador spoke, "What is the situation?"

The commander responded, "It appears that dang wolf pack has returned sir! Except they brought an army this time!"

"Fortify the wall's defenses! We cannot allow them to reach the city!" The elder dragon turned towards the candidates. "Listen, I understand that we have put you through hell and back. But we need your help to defend this place. This is our home and they have no right to take it. My only question is which of you are willing to do whatever it takes to protect it?"

With almost no hesitation, Ratha stepped forward. She sternly said, "I would lay down my life to protect what I considered my family."

"Well, I guess that makes my decision." Seeing that his sister stepped up, Rathal joined her.

Surprisingly, Quake also answered the call. "I'll do it… for Gaia!"

Bolt didn't move. "I… I can't."

The elder seemed surprised, "Why not?"

"The last time I tried to help someone, I got them killed." Bolt took a step back. "I don't wanna risk anyone else's lives. So just go! You don't need me."

Rathal said, "But Bolt-"

"He has made his decision," Terrador interjected, "Now go! May the ancestors look after you, may they look after us all!" The candidates leaped off the wall and glided down towards the ground

As the dragons descended, Grimm was standing in front of his pack. He wore an orange-tinted sword at his side. He started, "Brothers! Today is the day we take back what was once ours. Today, we rebuild the legacy of the wolves. Today, we become the apex predators. They took our city from us! We will relieve them of their lives! We will forge the path forward for our kind! And we will send the dragons back to where they belong… to hell alongside their pathetic ancestors! Are you with me?!" His audience roared with pride and confidence.

"That's what I thought! The time has come, my brethren, CHARGE!" The army turned into a stampede as the invasion of Warfang was now underway.

…

Frost had wasted no time when he woke up. He left his house and immediately began searching for Dawn. The forest was quiet other than the crunching and snapping of twigs beneath Frost's paws. His footsteps were easily visible in the pure white snow, but no one seemed to be following him. He knew he probably shouldn't be out here hunting down his friend's kidnapper, but he couldn't stand by knowing he could do something. He wasn't going to let what happened to his father happen to anyone else.

It was extremely cold, but Frost wasn't too bothered by it. As he explored, he focused on the temperature around him. He had quite a unique ability from which he discovered while training. He found that his scales respond to major changes in temperature, which also includes body temperature. If there was any way he was going to find Dawn, this is likely how it will happen.

Things weren't going too well though. He had been out for a couple of hours now and he hadn't found anything yet. Also, his body's resistance to the cold began to weaken. He was in luck though; there was a cave nearby. It was warmer in the cave than it was outside; so he decided to settle there for a bit.

As he approached the cave, he heard something. It was faint and he couldn't really make it out. He drew closer and closer to the cave, and the noises became more distinct. It sounded like something was screaming in pain. It grew louder as the mouth of the cave drew near. He reached its entrance and called out, "Hello? Is anyone there?!"

It went silent. It felt drastically warmer near the back of the cave. He knew something was in this cave so he continued. The floor was cold but definitely not as chilling as the snow outside. The cave was also quite dark, and he found it difficult to see. Frost just tried to use the heat to find his way.

Then, he spotted something; a dim light shining ahead of him. He approached it cautiously, curious as to what was the source. It grew brighter as he came closer. When he came around the corner, he saw what looked like a torch. It was the only thing that was lit, but it wasn't generating all the heat in the cave.

Then, he noticed something setting beneath the torch. It was a black object of some sort. Since the lighting was poor, Frost approached the object with a very limited idea of what it actually was. But as he got closer, he noticed something else. There was blood under the object and around it. That's when he realized it wasn't just an object.

He yelled, "Dawn!" He sprinted over to the injured dragon. He was shocked by the black dragon's injuries. His tail and one of his legs were broken in multiple places. There was a large gash across his chest and two of his smaller horns were broken. There were burns all over his body, including acidic burns on his wings. The webbings on his wings were almost completely gone.

"Dawn, wake up! Come on!" Frost put his ear up to his chest. His heart was beating but faintly. Frost attempted to pick him up, which got a loud groan of pain out of the black dragon. He quickly put him back down. "Sh*t, come on Dawn; I can't get you out of here without your help!"

Then he heard a female voice, "As if I would even let you leave." Suddenly, Frost was struck and sent skidding away from Dawn. He looked around for his attacker but it was still too dark to tell.

"Who are you? Why don't you come out and stop fighting me like a coward?!" Without warning, she hit him again and he slid back.

She responded, "I don't care how you die, child. I don't want to waste my time fighting you!" She prepared another attack. But Frost used his temperature ability to detect her body heat. He could feel her moving to attack as he dodged her tail swipe. She swung her paw at him only to have him dodge again.

Taking advantage of her position, Frost fired an ice spike at her. Though surprised by his sudden offense, she let the ice spike fly past her.

"You've lost the element of surprise," he remarked, "So why don't you just show your face?"

She growled in frustration. He was right; there was no point of fighting him in the darkness when he could feel her every attack. "Very well!"

One by one, the torches around them began to light themselves. Frost readied himself as his attacker was revealed. It was another black dragon like Dawn, except her body was slimmer, indicating that she was a female like he thought.

"Who are you?!"

She chuckled, "Out of all the faces you've seen in your life, I thought you would remember mine. I mean, you're an orphan because of me."

He thought about it for a second. His eyes narrowed into slits as he realized who she was. "You… you killed my parents!"

"Why yes, I did! And I enjoyed every second of it! They were both pathetic! I'm surprised your father was even a candidate for guardian." He knew she was trying to work him up into a rage. But he didn't care.

He formed four ice spikes behind him and fired them at Cynder. She launched acid at them, melting them away before they even touched her. But he was charging at her at the same time and he struck her in the chest, catching her off guard. She barely flinched and knocked him back with her tail.

She smirked, "Guess you're not as weak as I thought you were, but you're nothing to brag about."

"I don't care what you think about me. All you need to know is that I will avenge my parents' deaths!" An ice path formed in front of him. The ice froze Cynder's feet in place and he charged her again. She just laughed in his face.

She pulled her front paw out of the ice and slammed down on the back of his neck, stopping him dead in his tracks. She held him there and brought her snout close to his. "You will never beat me. Unlike you, I have four elements at my disposal while you only have one, And you don't even know how to use yours properly."

He responded with gritted teeth, "Well, you obviously don't know that when you're fighting an ice dragon, you don't want to touch it!" Suddenly, an ice spike formed on Frost's neck and pierced her paw.

She yelled in pain, "Why you insolent little brat!" She wrapped her claws around him, picked him up, and slammed him against the floor again. He coughed up a bit of blood. Cynder pulled her paw off the ice spike, inciting a grunt of pain. Her rage consumed her and she was through with him. "You actually drew blood, I'm impressed. But that was the last mistake you're ever going to make!"

He turned to look at her and spat blood in her face. "F*ck you!"

She raised her tail blade, "Such poor last words!" He closed his eyes awaiting the fatal blow. The black dragoness prepared to strike, but something hit her in the side. She went flying and hit the cave wall. The sudden attack stunned her for a brief period, but she quickly recovered. She growled but was surprised to find that Dawn was on his feet.

He was covered in blood, but his face was that of determination. His purple eyes seemed to shine with a tinge of anger. "You will not be victorious today! And I won't let you kill anyone else!"

"You have an admirable resolve, but you're an imbecile for attacking me instead of running," she remarked, "Actually, you wouldn't have gotten far anyway."

Dawn choked up some blood, "Unlike you Mom, I don't want to run from my problems."

"I am not your mother!" She started pacing towards him. But a sudden gust of wind pushed her back. She scowled, realizing what was happening. The wind was circling around Dawn, providing him with a shield. "Your element… you're a wind dragon. How amusing. You finally discover your element moments before your death."

She started walking again. Dawn used the wind currents to push her back. Cynder responded with her own, canceling his attack out. She started sprinting and brought her head low to ram him. He wanted to move out of the way, but he was barely able to get up earlier. She was creating a current of wind so his element wouldn't affect her. So he could do nothing but just stand there as her horns struck him head-on.

He went flying into the wall, and a jagged rock protruding from it also impacted his back. He screamed in pain as he felt several vertebrae in his back break. Then, he went limp and fell back to the ground.

"You monster!" Frost screamed, "I'll kill you!"

She turned around, "In your dreams! Now it's your turn!" She raised her tail blade again.

Someone spoke from behind her, "No, there has already been too many that have fallen by your blade, Cynder."

She turned around to the sight of Kyron. "So, you finally decided to show your face after your two students have already tried to kill themselves fighting me?"

The grey dragon ignored what she said and inspected the room. Kyron had already noticed Frost's condition, but he was shocked by Dawn's. In fact, the black dragon hadn't moved since Cynder slammed him against the wall. Kyron didn't want to take any chances.

"Frost, get Dawn out of here. Take him to Amethyst, now!"

The ice dragon got up, "But Kyron what about you?"

"Do not worry about me, now go!" Frost nodded and sprinted over to the unconscious black dragon. He picked him up and draped him over his back. He froze Dawn's front paws to his shoulders to secure him, then carried him out, leaving Cynder and Kyron to face each other.

Now, give me the crystal," Cynder demanded. "You know I'm willing to do anything to take it!"

"I know… that's why I have to stop you." He slowly assumed a battle position

"You seem reluctant, why?" She chuckled, "Are you scared of what I might do to you?"

He shook his head, "No, I'm scared of what you have done to yourself. You are a shell of the hero you used to be. It hurts seeing you like this."

"You're hurt? You don't even know me that well."

He sighed, "Actually…" He took off his crystal and held it in his hand. He contemplated whether what he was about to do was really worth it. He shunned the thought and clutched the crystal. "I think I know you better than anyone else."

He raised his paw and threw the crystal to the ground, shattering it.

Cynder was dumbstruck by the sudden action. "What have you done?! Why did you do that?!"

Kyron took a moment before responding, "I broke the symbol of my suffering. I'm done trying to hide. I'm done running from who I am." The energy from the crystal began swirling around the grey dragon. It started getting brighter and brighter in light until it was almost blinding. Cynder used her wing to block out the light. But it dimmed down just as quickly as it came.

Standing before her was a dragon she thought had gone. His scales had turned from a dull grey to a vibrant purple, and his faded gold underbelly had intensified, leaving him with a new gold finish. His horns, tail, wings, and back spines were also gold.

She stood there awestruck, "I-Impossible!"

"Actually, it is quite possible. For my name isn't Kyron," He opened his amethyst colored eyes.

"My name is Spyro, and I'm not going to leave you this time!"


	22. Chapter 22

Chaos ensued as the wolves and the moles met each other in the middle of the battlefield. The moles were small but their size allowed them to outmaneuver the wolves attacks. But the guardians were killing most of the pack.

Three wolves approached Quake. The earth dragon fired three earth bullets at them. They hit two of them, breaking their ribs and rupturing their organs. But one of them knocked the bullet aside. Quake was a bit surprised but he stomped his paw into the ground and launched a pillar of earth at it. The wolf held his paw out and stopped the pillar mid-attack. Then, he threw it back at Quake. It hit the earth dragon in the sternum and knocked him back.

Quake shook off the stars, "How did you do that?"

The wolf was enjoying himself, "Poor dragon, you fail to realize that this army is made of multiple packs. Which means there is more than one pack leader fighting you today," the wolf pulled a sword out of the earth, "And you're looking at one!"

He swung his sword at Quake. The earth dragon formed a shield made of earth to block the attack. The sword broke on contact. The wolf pulled another weapon, a hammer, out of the earth and smashed the shield. The blunt weapon knocked Quake farther back.

The earth dragon growled. He fired another earth bullet and charged the wolf. The alpha wolf broke the bullet with his bare paw, but that gave Quake the opening he needed. His horns impacted the wolf's chest and sent him into a group of wolves that were behind him. He got up and grabbed one of the wolves by the neck. He threw the wolf at Quake to distract him. The earth dragon easily dodged the body but couldn't dodge the earth bullet the wolf had thrown at him. It hit him directly in the face. It whipped his head back and he tasted a bit of blood in his mouth.

He spat a tooth out and looked back at his opponent. The wolf had a smirk on his face. "What's wrong, dragon? Not used to having someone who can match your power? You believe yourself to be so powerful, but you're confronted with a wolf who has your element and you can't win? How shocking...oh, and speaking of shocking..." Quake felt someone wrap their paws around him. He screamed in pain as a current of electricity was sent crackling into his body. He pushed whoever was behind him off and turned around.

It was another wolf with a black pelt. It kicked him in the chest knocking him back towards the earth wolf. That wolf grabbed another earth hammer and smashed Quake in the back with it. It broke against his back, embedding a couple of rocks into his scales. He fell to the floor but got back up. He took a step back so he could have the two wolves in front of him. He knew this battle was going to be tough.

Quake popped a crick out of his neck, "OK ladies, let's dance."

…

Things were going differently on the other side of the battlefield. Ratha and Rathal were working together, scorching group after group of wolves. Those who were caught in their blaze died from the intense flame, and those who survived; their skin was badly burned.

Two wolves were approaching them, one with a familiar blood-red pelt, and another with a snow white pelt.

Rathal looked at his sister, "You get the fire wolf, I got the white wolf." She nodded and they split off. The wolves also separated, recognizing their opponents.

The white wolf pulled a thin sword out of its scabbard. It growled, "So, you cowards finally decided to stop hiding behind your walls and fight us. It won't change the fact that you will lose today." It was a female.

Rathal rebutted, "You're the cowards! You hide in caves and run when you're losing a fight!"

She snapped, "We do not hide in caves! We LIVE in them! You dragons forced us to live in those damp, disgusting, sorry excuses for homes!"

"What do you mean 'we forced you'?"

She laughed, "You mean you really don't know? The moles weren't the only ones who built your precious city… the wolves did as well. Your elders lied to you, child. The city wasn't built in honor of the dragons, it was built in honor of wolves! It was OUR home, not yours! But you greedy dragons kicked us out of our home and cut us out of its history!"

Rathal couldn't believe what he was hearing. He thought, "There's no way that was true, right? Why would they do that?"

"I can see it on your face; you're calling your ancestors into question. They don't seem all pure now do they? Either way, we will take our city back today. Then you will suffer how we have suffered!" She swung her blade at the distracted dragon.

He barely had enough time to dodge as the blade scraped across his horns. He backflipped away from her and launched a fireball at her. Suddenly, a wall of ice sprung up in front of her and blocked the fireball. Though surprised by her defensive wall, he charged at the wall, building flames around his body as he sprinted. He slammed his horns into the wall, knocking it over. But she burst through the ice structure and threw her sword at Rathal.

He used his tail and knocked it away, but she already had the opening she needed. She landed on top of him with another ice sword at hand. She had it placed against his neck, ready to deliver the final blow.

Luckily, Rathal exhaled hot steam into her eyes, temporarily blinding her. He used his hind legs and pushed the wolf off of him. She stumbled back a bit but remained on her feet. He got up and grabbed her sword with his tail and threw it at her. She was still blind as the sword impaled her shoulder. She howled in pain at the sword protruding from her collarbone. He thought about ending her right there, but he decided that she was already defeated.

Meanwhile, Ratha and Grimm met each other again.

The blood wolf seemed to watch her closely, cautious to any sudden movements she might make.

She snarled, "Why are you doing this? We have done nothing to you!"

Grimm's frustration grew. "The ignorant dragon, she doesn't even know," he thought. He spoke aloud, "You say you've done nothing to us? Is that you trying to say that the fact we live in caves is our fault?"

His voice grew louder and angrier as he spoke, "Are you trying to say that you are completely innocent?! If that is the message you're trying to convey, then you are dead wrong! You are the reason… the reason we wolves live in fear! You are the reason we live in caves!" His words seemed to drip with venom and contempt. "You are the reason that my cubs are starving to death!"

Ratha spoke up, "And you are the reason why my brother nearly died!" She opened her maw and spewed a jet of flames at him. He was engulfed in the flames, but he just stood there, completely unaffected.

He smirked and raised his blade. The butt of the blade handle hit Ratha on top of her head, sending stars through her brain. He kicked her underneath her jaw and sent her into a tree. He walked up and grabbed her by her neck. He lifted her up against the tree and started punching her stomach over and over again. She grunted in pain each time and felt blood building up in the back of her throat.

The wolf stopped to speak, "How does it feel dragon? To be completely at my mercy?"

She spat some blood into his face. "Like that! And like this!" She raised her tail stinger and stabbed him in his side.

He instantly let go of her. He looked at the new puncture wound in his side. A dark green substance was dripping from it. He yelled, "Poison? But you're a dragon?!" He spotted her tail. It was different from any other dragon that he had ever met. But it wasn't unfamiliar.

He knew why her tail was like that. "So, you're part wyvern! Wyverns are the only creature I know that have poisonous tails."

Rathal laughed, "Yeah you're right. My father was a wyvern. But in about ten minutes, you'll be out cold."

"You'll be dead by then!" Grimm pulled out his sword and charged the dragoness. She tried to get up but she was still dizzy from the strikes he delivered earlier. He raised his blade above his head. "Goodbye!"

Someone yelled in the background, "Noooo!"

He swung the blade and she closed her eyes. She waited for the pain, but it never came. Something was dripping on her face. She was reluctant to open her eyes. She had heard the person yelling in the background, and was scared. Since the pain didn't come, she knew that someone else probably took the strike for her. She opened her eyes to find that blood was dripping on her. Her worst fear was realized because she knew... the blood wasn't hers. And there was only one person who would take a sword strike for her.


	23. Chapter 23

Cynder stood there in shock as her long lost mate was right in front of her. His purple scales almost seemed to illuminate the room and his eyes were cutting through her soul. But it doesn't last when she growled in a deep low voice. "You, b*stard! After 13 years of searching, you finally found the courage to show your face again!

He knew she would say that, "Listen Cynder… I know how you feel but my actions do not justify yours. You've killed too many to count. You leave me no choice but to confront you."

She snarled, "I left you no choice?! Does that mean despite seeing me again, you weren't going to reveal yourself to me at all?!"

He took a moment before responding, "I… was scared. I didn't want to reveal my secret because I knew how everyone would react. But when you kidnapped Dawn, that was the final straw. I can't let you hurt anyone else!"

"The only person I'll be hurting from now on is you!" is what she said before charging the purple dragon. Her eyes were lined with killing intent. When she got close to him, she jumped into the air and bared down on Spyro.

The purple dragon dodged out of the way. He used his ice element and formed a wall where he was standing. The black dragon couldn't stop herself before smashing head first into the wall of ice, destroying the wall with her weight. She also slammed into the cave wall, sending stalagmites crashing on top of her. Despite that, she managed to get back up, full of burning rage.

She wrapped her tail around one of the rocks that fell on top of her and threw it at Spyro. He avoided it easily but was distracted and didn't see the ball of black fire she had launched at him before it was too late. The fireball hit him on his side, leaving a nasty burn.

He cringed in pain but didn't have any time to react when Cynder struck him with her horns. He crashed into the metal cage Dawn was kept in and fell to the floor. He felt the blood in the back of his throat, but he got back to his feet anyway.

She smirked, "Seems like your years away from being the purple dragon of legend has made you weak."

He sighed. "I am not a legend; I'm just a purple dragon."

She gave him a confused look, "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Why would I consider myself a legend after what I've done?" He was dismissing his own heroic actions, "I may have saved the world, but my absence has caused chaos. I left Warfang to the mercy of the wolves. You're not fighting a hero; you're just fighting a dragon trying to atone for his mistakes."

"Trying to atone for your mistakes?" She laughed, "If that's your petty way of begging for forgiveness, forget it. Because as long as I live, I will never forgive you!"

Spyro responded, "I wasn't asking for it."

Suddenly the earth around Cynder cracked and wrapped around her legs. She was immobilized and struggling to free herself. Her eyes turned red as she utilized her element of fear. Like before, however, Spyro appeared completely unaffected.

"Don't make me do this Cynder. You know I will win." This taunting comment frustrated the dark dragon.

She yelled, "How dare you suggest that I am incapable of killing you!" She used her shadow element, allowing her paws to faze through the rocks. She opened her maw and spewed out a ball of acid.

Spyro used his tail to redirect it, throwing it off to the side. Cynder didn't waste any more time and swung her tail blade at him. He jumped over it, but she swung her wing around and cut his face with its blade. Then, she whipped around and hit him in the chest with her horns. She used the momentum to fling him into the ceiling. He impacted the ceiling with a loud thud and as he fell back to the floor, one of the pointed rocks dropped and went through the webbing in his right wing. He screamed in pain from his disabled wing.

She felt like today was finally the day. The day she could finally exact her revenge on the one who ripped her heart out. She grabbed the jagged rock and pushed it further into his wing, causing him to scream even louder. Then she suddenly pulled it out, making him jolt and clutch at his wing as it bled. He flipped on his back and she held her tail blade to his throat.

But something seemed strange to her. Defeating Spyro was easy, too easy. "I understand he's weaker, but it's almost like he wasn't even trying to hold his own. Wait...:" She realized what the purple dragon was doing, "You weren't even trying to fight me, were you?"

Spyro, realizing that she knew, confessed, "No, I don't want to fight you. Despite everything you've done, I still love you. And nothing will change that!" She didn't respond and just stared at him. "But… if my death is the only thing that will appease your anger… then do it… end it right here, right now."

She smiled deviously, "With pleasure!" She raised her tail blade for the final blow but she hesitated.

Spyro noticed, "What are you waiting for? Do it!" She was a bit surprised by his willingness to accept death. But she made up her mind.

She swung her blade at his neck only to have it stop just before it reached his throat. She didn't know what was happening, why couldn't she bring herself to kill him? There was nothing stopping her, but it was like some invisible mental barrier.

Spyro sighed again, "You can't do it, can you?"

"What?! No! Of course, I can!"

"Then why haven't you yet? You just went for the killing blow and then stopped." He got up, "I can tell you why. Despite what you've said, the Cynder I know is still in there. You realize this is wrong, and your subconscious won't let you do it."

She pushed him away, "No, I have killed many before you with no hesitation! I have more reason to kill you than anyone else! You abandoned me and let others haunt and condemn me for my past. They wanted a monster... so they got one. I am Cynder, Terror of the Skies and the Dark Master's gener-"

"Enough!" He grabbed her by her shoulders, "Stop lying to yourself! You keep telling others that but you're not trying to convince them; you're trying to convince yourself. But you can't. You have grown past the monster you claim to be! You buried the title of general when we killed Malefor! You overcame your past when you decided to have a son!"

"I do not have a-"

Spyro cut her off again, "You do! You've had a son for thirteen years. He was the dragon that you tortured today!"

Cynder, for some reason, felt her heart sink. She didn't really know the young black dragon so she didn't know why she suddenly felt so... depressed about hearing that.

"Despite the fact that you left him, he still cares for you. He still loves you; he just hates seeing you like this!" Spyro was trying to get through to her. He didn't want to fight her, to hurt her. He just wanted to be next to her again.

She backed up, "No! You are trying to twist my mind. You just want me to forget my hatred for you! Never! You will die today, Spyro!" She readied herself to swing her blade.

Spyro growled, "Then you leave me no choice!" His eyes began to glow with convexity.

The two dragons charged at each other. Cynder swung her tail blade at his head. He used his tail and knocked hers away. He wrapped his arms around her. She prepared herself for pain, ready for him to throw her, crush her, anything! But nothing happened.

He begged, "Please, come back to me." He wasn't crushing her; he was hugging her. "Every day is torture without you. Every night without you is sleepless. I miss hearing your voice. I miss listening to your heartbeat. I miss being next to you."

"I-I… " Cynder was frozen. She couldn't think straight and didn't know what to do. She felt Spyro's tears soak into her scales.

"Cynder do you remember when I finally found my courage? It wasn't when I defeated you, nor when I saved you from Gaul, and it wasn't when we defeated Malefor." He hugged her a bit tighter, "It was the night that I asked you to be my mate. After that night, I decided that I would do anything to protect you and our hatchlings. That is why I left you all those years ago."

"I didn't tell you this, but my dark self was starting to appear on his own, hurting everyone around him. I feared that he would hurt you or Dawn, or worse; so I left to keep you both safe." He sniffled, "I'm sorry Cynder. I… I'm sorry for not being there for you. But please… your son needs you…; I need you."

Cynder thought about what he was saying. Even if she did return to his side, no one would trust her. She responded, "It's… too late for me. Why waste your breath trying to convince me?"

"Because it is never too late! You proved that when we saved the Earth from Malefor!" There was so much passion in Spyro's voice. "I saved you from the convexity because I believed that there was good in you and you proved me right! Are you going to throw away everything that we have worked so hard to protect? Or are you going to return home to your son?"

"Spyro, I…" She felt something inside of her. It was small and growing by the second. Suddenly, she gasped as everything came rushing back to her. Her years with Spyro, the days she spent with her son, and… how she had tortured him. She thought to herself, "What have I done?" She felt sick to her stomach. Despite everything that she had done to save Earth, she couldn't stop herself from hurting innocents. "I… can't."

Spyro was shocked by her answer, "But, why not?"

She pushed him away, "I've hurt too many dragons. I've killed three guardians and Cyril, and I even tortured my own son!" Her guilt was finally beginning to show. "How am I supposed to help others if I can be easily manipulated into hurting them?!" She began to tremble as tears began to stream down her face. "Why… why couldn't you have just left me to the convexity?! Your life would have been so much easier if you did! Why couldn't you just let me die?"

"Because no one who had their innocence taken from them deserves to die! Everyone deserves a second chance at life! After saving you, you became a hero. You defeated the monster that took your childhood away from you. But I wasn't the one to make you that hero. Sure, I did save you, but you were the one that persevered and became something to be proud of. And because I saved you, I found my lifelong mate in the most beautiful dragoness I have ever met."

"But that doesn't excuse how many lives I've taken. I tried to be a hero, but I always end up being the villain of the story!" She held up her tail blade. "I love you, but maybe I should just end it now…"

"NO!" He grabbed her by her shoulders again, "Don't do this. Your son still needs-"

They heard a voice call out."Hey, who's down there?!"

Spyro's eyes widened, "Sh*t, those are the guards from the temple. Cynder, I need you to get out of here."

"But what about you?"

"Don't worry about me. Use your shadow element. And before you go, I will return to this cave tonight at midnight. Please be here."

Cynder took a moment to respond, "Ok, I will." Her body melted into the dark as the guardians began to walk in. Spyro used his dragon time ability to move past the guards without being seen. He made his way outside of the cave. He grabbed the cloak he tossed away when he entered the cave and draped it over his head, hiding his scales. Then he sprinted off towards the town, hoping that his son was still breathing.


	24. Chapter 24

Ratha laid on the ground in shock as her brother had just taken the blade strike for her. The blade had penetrated his chest and was protruding from his spine with blood on its tip. The wolf pulled his blade out of the fire dragon's chest. Ratha felt her heart stop as the blue scaled dragon collapsed in front of her.

"Rathal!" She crawled over to him and cradled him. His chest wound was gushing blood and he was coughing up some as well. "Come on Rathal, stay with me!" She was trying to comfort him when he chuckled. She was surprised because it wasn't the reaction she was expecting.

He looked at her. The fire in his eyes had already faded into a small spark. He joked, "You know…. at least… my sister gets… to fulfill her dreams. You have… no competition left now. Now you're… guaranteed to become a guardian." He chuckled again only to choke up more blood.

This caused Ratha to panic, "No, you're not done yet! I refuse to let you die!" She put pressure on the wound to try and stop the bleeding. She called out, "HELP! We need a medic over here!"

Rathal had already realized that this was it, "They… aren't gonna get here in time, Ratha. This... is the end for me." A tear rolled down his cheek, "I'll make sure… to say hi… to Mom and Dad for you."

She clutched at his paw, "Rathal please no! Don't leave me!" Her light blue eyes sparkled as they became wet with tears.

The dying dragon lifted his right paw and wiped her tears away. "I'm sorry… I don't have… a choice." His eyelids were heavy and he was struggling to stay conscious. "Just remember that… I love you, big sis." He smiled as his eyes eased closed.

Ratha stood there in total shock. She felt like she couldn't move, couldn't breathe, and like her world just stopped moving. Grimm stood there and witnessed the twin's final interaction. Despite his strong dislike for the dragons, family is something he understood. He felt sympathy for the dragoness. But he couldn't let his personal emotions get in the way of his goal.

He raised his blade, "Any last words before I reunite you with your brother?" This snapped Ratha out of her shock. She mumbled something. "Excuse me, what was that again?"

"You're… going to die!" Suddenly, a large flame exploded from the dragoness. The heat was so intense, it knocked Grimm back. His sword clattered to the ground as Ratha got to her feet. The blue fire seeping from scales was so hot that her scales had turned to bright golden orange. Her light blue pupils had turned into bright red slits. She opened her maw and unleashed a stream of blue fireballs.

Grimm got to his feet, grabbed a shield that had been discarded near him and planted it in front of him. It only took one fireball before it melted. The other two hit the blood wolf in the chest. He skidded backward and was left with two singe marks on his sternum. His resistance to fire couldn't help him in this situation.

Ratha had enough, "You! You took my only family away from me! You wolves are cruel, barbaric monsters! I'm going to kill every last one of you!" She ducked her head and charged at the wolf. She quickly picked up speed and her horns were beginning to catch fire. The wolf jumped over her as she ran under him. What he didn't see was that Rathal had stopped herself behind him.

She backflipped and struck him with her tail. He rolled over when she used her stinger and stabbed him in the shoulder. The stinger was extremely hot, which charred the fur on his shoulder. He kicked the dragoness, pulling her tail out of his shoulder. He reached over and grabbed his orange-tinted sword. He swung at her. The blade melted before it even made contact with her scales. He looked at his now liquefied sword in disbelief.

She scoffed, "That blade cut down my brother. Now that it's gone, I can finish you off!"

"No, you won't!" A wall of ice sprung from the ground between Grimm and Ratha. The red dragoness turned towards the source of the voice. It was the white wolf that Rathal had injured earlier. She still had the wound on her shoulder but she was on her feet and had an ice sword in her paw. Her shoulder was covered in a layer of snow, which must have stopped the bleeding. She was still gritting her teeth from the pain though. "You will not kill him! He has a family and a pack to serve and I refuse to let you keep him from fulfilling that duty!"

Ratha snarled, "I don't care about his family, he killed my brother! Now he will pay with his own blood! And I won't hesitate to kill you too." Not only was she releasing her anger, but she was also releasing all the pressure, stress, and torture she had suffered in the past few days. The wolves had caused her so much trouble; she was done with showing them mercy.

The white wolf stood tall, "I will never back down to the likes of you!" She raised her blade and the two females engaged each other in battle

On The Other Side of The Battleground

The wall cracked as Quake was slammed into it. He was still fighting the two alpha wolves and they had the odds on their favor. He tried isolating and attacking one of them, but the other always stopped his attempts. His earth attacks had almost no effect since one of the wolves could control the earth as well. And the other wolves' lightning attacks gave him no time to think.

And while Quake was trying to fight the two wolves, Bolt was watching the attack unfold. He hated himself for acting cowardly. He wanted to help so badly, but he didn't want to hurt any more of his friends. He had no problem using his lightning element, but he was bothered by the fact that his element could be a detriment to the team. He was deep in thought that he didn't even hear Volteer walk up behind him.

The elder interrupted his thoughts, "Are you ok, Bolt?" The young dragon turned to look at him, but then just continued watching the battle. Volteer sighed, "Listen, young dragon, I understand what you're going through. You think that you would hurt your friends more than the enemy."

Bolt hung his head. Volteer noticed, "Young dragon, you cannot blame yourself. You didn't have bad intentions. Your element, any element can be detrimental to a group if not used with the right intentions. You wish to help your friends, which is a good reason why you should be out there fighting.

"Volteer… I'm scared… of what might happen to them out there if I do."

The elder dragon put his paw on Bolt's shoulder, "It is okay to be afraid. But what sets a hero and a coward apart is that only one of them is willing to confront it."

The lightning dragon contemplated those words. Then he made up his mind.

Quake grabbed a boulder and threw it at the dirt brown wolf and charged the black and yellow one. As the earth wolf knocked the boulder away, the lightning wolf grabbed Quake by his horns and slammed him face first into the ground. Then he charged up his paws and sent a jolt of electricity through the earth dragon's body. He screamed in pain as the shock coursed through his body. He managed to pick up his paw and slam it into the ground. An earth pillar erupted from the ground and struck the wolf in the face. He fell off the dragon and onto his back.

However, when Quake tried to move, the earth wrapped around his horns and slammed his face back into the ground. The earth wrapped around his body and began to put pressure on him. It was slowly crushing him. He felt his earth prison get smaller, as the earth wolf took his time.

The wolf yelled, "You die today, dragon!" But something unexpected happened. Out of the blue, he was hit by a lightning bolt, which stopped his attack. Acting under a misunderstanding, He screamed at his friend, "Why did you attack me?!"

The lightning wolf said, "That wasn't me!" Suddenly, a black and yellow dragon dropped down from on top of the wall.

He yelled, "You're done hurting him!" It was Bolt and he was done standing on the sidelines. The wolf channeled electricity and fired it at him. Instead of dodging, Bolt used his body as a conductor and redirected the attack at the earth wolf. The wolf, being unprepared to dodge the attack, was hit with its full force. His skin slowly burned away and his heart exploded from the voltage output.

Seeing his friend fall to the ground, the other wolf screamed, "NOOO!" He sprinted at the lightning dragon on all fours. But an earth wall sprung up in front of him, cutting him off. He also couldn't stop his momentum so he slammed into it, breaking some of his teeth. Then two earth walls emerged on both sides. They started closing in on the wolf. The desperate wolf tried to hold them back, but he wasn't strong enough. His bones broke with a loud crack as the wall crushed him.

Quake laid back down, exhausted from the two-on-one fight.

Bolt walked up and helped him up. "Quake, are you okay?"

"Yeah… I'm fine. " The earth dragon suddenly felt guilty. Bolt had saved his life and he had accused him of being his best friend's killer. "Listen, Bolt I-"

Bolt interjected, "No, now is not the time. We can discuss this later. Right now, we need to end this battle."

Quake hesitated, "You're right. Let's go."


	25. Chapter 25

At the dragon temple, some of the doctors of the village were trying to find Amethyst, who hadn't been seen since the day before. What they didn't know is that she was still at Dawn's house. She hadn't even gotten up from his bed. She felt like a failure as a friend and as a nurse. This thought sent her into a deep state of depression and it drained her energy and motivation to even move.

She heard someone knocking on the door. She raised her head, "Who's there?"

A muffled voice came through the door, "It's me, Frost. Quickly, open the door! I need your help!"

Slightly reluctant, she sighed and got up out of the bed. "What is so important that he needs my help?"

She walked over to the door and pulled it open. Frost was standing directly in front of her and he looked exhausted. She said, "Ok, what is it that you need my-" She froze. There was blood dripping down his sides. Then she noticed the bleeding, black mass on his back. Her heart sank when she realized it was Dawn. She moved out of the way, "Put him on the bed!"

Frost bound over to the dragon's resting place and laid Dawn on its covers. The black dragon was unconscious and bleeding badly. She rushed over to his side and laid her paw down on his chest. She closed her eyes and started to heal him. But something was wrong. His wounds… they weren't healing. No matter how much energy she used, his wounds were still bleeding.

She began to grow anxious, "No… his injuries won't heal!"

Frost was also growing concerned, "Why aren't they healing?"

"I-I don't know. There's like… some kind of aura surrounding the wounds. And whatever this aura is made of, it's preventing his wounds from healing! I-I don't know what to do! My healing ability has never failed me up until now!" She looked around, "And I don't have any of my medical supplies with me!" Her paw wrapped around his, "I can't lose him, not again!"

"Neither can I." Both dragons glanced at the door. There was a shadowed figure in the doorway. It was a dragon wearing some kind of rugged cloak. He walked into the house, "Which is why I will help."

Amethyst asked, "Kyron, is that you?"

He chuckled, "No, I am done hiding behind that name. But that should not be your priority. You need to focus on helping Dawn. I will cleanse the dark aura around his wounds." The dragon raised his paw and a sphere of energy formed around the injured dragon, slightly levitating him above the bed. "And while it is being cleansed, Frost, you must head to Warfang. The wolves launched another invasion and the other candidates could use your help. Warfang isn't far from here. Amethyst and I will take it from here. Now go!" Frost nodded and sprinted out of the door.

Amethyst, while waiting for the cleansing process to complete, noticed the purple scales on the older dragon's arm. "You're a purple dragon aren't you?" He remained quiet. She continued, "Well, last time I checked, Malefor is dead and a thousand years hasn't passed yet since the last purple dragon was born. So you must be Spyro, right?"

The older dragon chuckled, "You young dragons are too smart for your own good. Yes, I am Spyro. But that is not important right now, the darkness is almost cleansed. Be prepared to heal him." The sphere-like energy dissipated and Dawn's body sunk back down onto the bed. Amethyst grabbed his paw and started healing him. This time, the wounds actually started to heal.

One of the lacerations on his chest closed up, but it scarred. Spyro noticed and asked, "Why are his wounds scarring? I thought you said your abilities healed the wounds."

"No, my abilities just speed up the process. Sadly, even if we would've let these injuries heal naturally, it would've scarred either way. But he would have died if we waited. It's better this way." Spyro just nodded and continued watching.

It didn't take long before her energy was completely expended and she couldn't continue healing him. Most of his injuries were successfully healed. He still had a broken arm and one of his horns was fractured, but that couldn't be healed. She sluggishly sat down at a table near the fireplace. She was exhausted and needed rest. But before she could even close her eyes, she noticed something about Dawn.

Spyro noticed, "Is something wrong, Amethyst?"

"Look at Dawn's tail. I think there's something wrong with it.

"How can you tell?"

She responded, "His tail has this unconscious habit of moving on its own whenever he is asleep."

Spyro, curious, pried, "How do you know that?"

She blushed, "No reason! It's just that… his tail hasn't moved since he came back. And that's worrying me." She got up and started putting pressure on his tail. There was no reaction from the black dragon. She began making her way up the tail until she made it to the base of his spine. When she applied pressure, Dawn screamed in pain and used just his front paws to push himself away from her claws. She also drew her paw back out of surprise. She mumbled, "No… it can't be."

Spyro, also concerned, asked, "What's wrong?"

"His spine is broken; even worse... I think he's paralyzed from the waist down."

Meanwhile

The tables were turning on the battleground. The wolves, after witnessing the death of two of their pack leaders, we're starting to grow fearful. Their attacks were coming off as less aggressive as the battle progressed. Quake and Bolt were also pushing back the wolves.

Lightning and earth were going everywhere as Ratha, still enraged, fought the ice wolf. She was dominating the injured alpha, melting every ice attack she threw at her. The wolf was growing desperate and tired. Her attacks were becoming weaker over time, and her movements were starting to slack. But Rathal's attacks weren't letting up.

Ratha swung her tail at the wolf. But the pack leader caught her tail in the mouth of her muzzle. She swung the dragon away and howled at the troops around them. Several wolves jumped into the fray. The alpha needed room to breathe and time to heal. She had hoped her wolves could keep the dragon away. But she was wrong. All the wolves, snarling and chomping at the bit, charged against the dragoness. They didn't realize that during the fight, she had built up a large amount of elemental energy.

Another aura of fire began to form around her scales. The ice wolf noticed and let out a plea, "No! Brothers, stop your attack!" She was too late and the wolves bared down on Ratha. The fire dragoness let out a thunderous roar as her elemental energy peaked and burst out, sending a wall of white-hot flames spewing outwards. Anything within her vicinity disintegrated like they just evaporated into the air. The ice wolf just stared at her in horror. And Ratha responded with an intense gaze. She began to saunter towards the wolf, knowing that she had won. The wolf just stood there dumbfounded as the dragon just killed seven wolves in an instant.

Ratha spoke, "Are you ready to die now, you primitive monster?" The wolf, using her ice sword, got to her feet.

Defiant, she declared, "Not by your hand!" She held her blade up and plunged it deep into her own stomach. She smirked and said, "Enjoy your… brother's funeral, and may you choke on his blood!" Ratha didn't wait for the wolf to bleed out. She stabbed her through her jaw, skewering her brain.

She spoke with a monotone voice, "You first." She pulled out her stinger and walked away, knocking the body over with her tail as she whipped around. She refocused her efforts on the final pack leader, Grimm. He hadn't recovered from their previous encounter and he was trying to crawl over to his sword. He didn't notice that his army was retreating and they were leaving him behind. He stretched out his paw to grab the sword when Ratha's stinger impaled it.

He screamed in pain, letting out an agonized howl. She silenced him quickly by grabbing the back of his head and burying his face into the ground.

She growled in his ear, "I killed your friend. Now it's your turn to pay for what you did you b*stard!" She pulled her stinger out of his hand. She let out a stream of flames and engulfed her stinger. Then, she scraped her inflamed stinger across his back, leaving a path of charred fur and skin in its wake. She didn't want to kill him yet, just make him suffer for everyone he has hurt. She let go of his face, allowing him to breathe. She kicked him over and raised her stinger.

He just looked at her, "Well, what are you waiting for? I failed my pack and I failed my family. There will be consequences if I return empty-handed. So just end it!"

"As if I needed to be convinced!" Her tail was shaking anxiously, "This… is for Rathal!"

Someone yelled, "Stop!"

Ratha froze and turned towards the direction of the voice. "Don't get in my way or I'll kill…!" She paused. She was surprised to see that it was Frost. "Frost? Why are you stopping me?"

"Because vengeance will not serve any purpose. Killing him will do nothing but exasperate the conditions of this war between us and the wolves." Frost tread slowly toward her.

Ratha began to grow frustrated, "What do you know of revenge? He killed my brother! You do not know my pain!"

Frost snapped, "I know your pain better than anyone else! Both of my parents died and I watched helplessly as my mother was killed right in front of me! And when I tried to get my revenge on the son of a b*tch that killed them, more people got hurt! Killing him will give the realm no peace and give you no satisfaction because killing him will not bring your brother back!"

Frost reached her and grabbed her by the shoulder. "Please! You helped me when my father died now let me help you!"

The fire dragoness took a moment before bringing her snout inches away from Grimm's muzzle. "If you dare try to invade Warfang again, I'll skip the torture next time. Now get out of my sight before I change my mind!"

The wolf steadily got up and took off on all fours, ending the invasion of Warfang with another failure.

Ratha turned to face Frost. Her scales turned back into their usual pink and her eyes turned back to light blue. Her anger melted into grief as she hung her head low. It was finally sinking in that her brother was dead. The last of her family had left her.

Frost, recognizing her sadness, tried to comfort her, "I know how you feel. But there was something that Kyron had told me when I was training under him. It was something one of his teachers told him. He said that 'when a dragon dies, he does not truly leave this world. His spirit lives on, binding itself with nature, offering hope for the future'. Rathal is not gone, he's just taken on a new form. He'll always be right with you, every step of the-"

Without warning, Ratha hugged Frost, catching him off guard. She couldn't hold it anymore and was letting all out. She started sobbing into his shoulder. He blushed a little, but he wrapped his wing around her to comfort the weeping dragoness.

He sat there with her for ten minutes, allowing her to vent her grief. Quake and Bolt were going to speak to them, but they didn't want to interrupt the moment; so they just continued cleaning up all the bodies.

But when they got to Rathal, Frost interrupted them, "Don't! I'll grab him when we're done." Though confused, the two dragons nodded and skipped Rathal.

The ice dragon lowered his head and whispered, "Do you feel any better?"

Ratha nodded.

"Good, then let's get back to Warfang. We can't sit here on this blood covered battleground any longer. I'll go and grab Rathal and then we'll leave." Both dragons let go of the embrace and Frost got up. He walked over to the deceased body of Rathal. He hoisted him up on his back and froze his front paws in place on his shoulders. Ratha joined him and they both began their long walk back to the city.


	26. Chapter 26

The day drove on sluggishly for Dawn. He kept thinking about what the others were doing or something as small as how the weather was. He just wanted to jump out of the bed, run outside, and feel the snow rub against his scales. He wanted to feel the sun on his back. He missed the feeling of chilled wind blowing under his wings. But it always came back around to his legs. They gave him a sense of worthlessness and self-loathe. The house he came to love had become a prison. The only sunlight he got was through the tiny window built into his wall. The air was stale, making it even more uncomfortable. It was cold and all he could do was sit there under his blanket and eat his food.

He had barely eaten any of his breakfast. He was so distracted by his own thoughts that he didn't notice Amethyst enter the house with his lunch.

She noticed his sorrowed expression and laid out the food down to the side. "Hey Dawn, are you feeling any better?" He remained silent and continued staring a hole into his food. "Hello? Dawn are you there?" She waved her paw in front of his face and he didn't even flinch. She huffed in frustration. Using her tail spade, she whacked him on the back of his head.

The sudden pain knocked him out of his trance. He clutched at his cranium, "Ow! What was that for?!" He looked at her with an angry glare.

"I called your name twice and you didn't even acknowledge me once! Is something wrong?" He responded with more silence and peered back down at his food. She kinda felt like an idiot asking a question that she already knew the answer to. She had already guessed that he was unhappy with his current condition. Not it only did it hurt her to see him this way, but it exasperated her feelings regarding the situation. It made her feel even more guilty to hole him up in here.

She sat down next to him. "Dawn, whatever it is that's bugging you, just know that I'm here and I'm willing to listen." He continued with his short vow of silence. She sighed and laid her paw on his. "Why was he acting like this?" She pondered to herself.

He pulled his paw away from hers, "I-I'm sorry. I just don't wanna talk right now." The cold remark stung her heart as he just verbally pushed her away. She tried to keep her emotions in check as she nodded. She went and grabbed his food and carried it over to him. She slid his breakfast tray away from and replaced it with his lunch tray.

"Okay, just call me when you need me." She shuffled outside before closing the door.

When she was out of sight, he continued to wander into his own thoughts. "Why… Why does life always throw obstacles in my way? Why do I always get the short end of the stick? Amethyst got to live the life she wanted. Ratha, Rathal, and even Frost will achieve their dreams of becoming guardians. But for me… I get left behind in a hospital bed, probably never to fly or fight again. Being a guardian was all that I wanted! But I guess it just wasn't meant to be. Maybe I should just give up…" His shoulders dropped and he let his sadness envelop him like a curtain. However, before he could announce his defeat, he felt something swell inside of him. He muttered, "No…" He lifted his head and had a defiant look in his eyes. Out loud, he yelled, "No! I have overcome every challenge life has thrown at me. This setback is just another hurdle for me to jump. I won't let this injury stop me from achieving my dreams."

Dawn laid his lunch tray down next to him and turned to try and get off the bed again. Like before, when his hind legs touched the floor, they buckled underneath him and he fell again. He gritted his teeth, "Come on legs...why won't you just work?!" He continued trying to push himself back up to all fours, but his hind legs remained unresponsive. He was getting heated and his body was tensing up. If his scales weren't black, his face would be red-hot.

He failed to notice that he was building up elemental energy as his anger continued to inflate. A growl was resonating through his throat. "I will not give up!" The wind around him began to pick up as it felt his rising rage. It was acting in response to his emotions. He gave his legs one last push. In almost complete finality, his legs remained still as ice. Seeing his final effort go to waste, he let out an anguished roar. It sent an extremely powerful wind gust crashing outwards. It sent all his furnishings flying away from him into the wall and put his fire out. His door broke off its hinges and the window shattered again.

The roar could be heard throughout the entire town. Everyone clutched at their ears as the wind amplified the black dragon's voice. The wind sent hatchlings tumbling down the street. The snow now covered half the village. Amethyst was already at home when she heard his cries. She quickly sprinted back to the wind dragon's house, hoping nothing terrible happened.

As the wind calmed down around him, his body was drained and he collapsed onto the floor. He whimpered, "Why… am I so… weak? I just wanted… for them to be proud of...me."

It wasn't long before Amethyst barged back into the home, "Dawn are you okay?!" She was panicked as she was worried about his well-being. She saw him on the floor and rushed over to his side. She anxiously shook his shoulder. He opened his eyes only to turn away from her stare. He realized that he had just gotten out of bed without her permission. He couldn't imagine what kind of anger she felt for him right now.

"Dawn, what happened?" He couldn't bring himself to answer. But she didn't stop, "I need you to answer now, Dawn! Silence is not a viable answer."

Seeing as he had no choice, he whispered, "I… tried to get up again. I let my anger… get the best of me. I-I'm sorry…"

She inspected the area, "You… you did all this?" He reluctantly nodded. This was the first time she witnessed the aftermath of the black dragon abilities. Frost never told her about any of this. She sighed, "Dawn, I told you to rest. Once we fix your back, I'm going to help you learn how to walk again."

"How do you know that this is fixable?" The question caught her off-guard. She wasn't used to him being so pessimistic.

"What do you mean? Of course, your back is fix-"

"I don't mean my back!" She jumped from his sudden outburst. She had never seen him like this. "I… I meant my legs. Even if we fix my back, are you sure that my legs will work?" He looked directly into her eyes. "Or are you telling me that to give me false hope?"

She wanted to say yes, but not even she was sure. She didn't know the extent of his back injury. "I'm… not sure. I don't know if your legs are paralyzed or if their nerves were permanently severed. Once I perform the surgery on your back, I will have a better idea." She rested her paw on his shoulder, "But for right now, you need to trust me on this. I've been a nurse for a very long time, Dawn. None of my patients have left my service crippled."

He turned away from her as he muttered, "There's a first time for everything. Maybe you should have just left me at your doorstep..."

"Don't say that!" She suddenly flipped him on his back and used her tail to make him look at her. "You shouldn't de-value your life! You have people who care about you and you've given me the opportunity to experience something new. It's been years since I left that village but you… helped me overcome a fear I've had for a long time. But you can't just throw your life away!"

"Why not-" She clamped his mouth shut.

She brought her snout close to his, "I won't let you!" The power in her voice actually scared him a little. This amount of aggression was out of character for her. Dawn just skeptically shook his head.

Her tail moved away from his jaw, "I'm going to fix your bed." She also thought to herself, " And I will fix you one day. That is my promise."

Late That Night

It had been two nights since Spyro had asked Cynder to come back to the cave. Despite her absences, the purple dragon still insisted on waiting for her. He sat by the mouth of the cave, looking out into the snowy night. He had lit the torches as a signal and waited patiently.

He was contemplating the situation before him. "She said that she would meet here two nights ago. I know that she probably isn't coming. But… I just don't want to give up on her, to leave her! I won't abandon her like before." A rustling in the bushes cut him out his mind. He cautiously approached the snow-covered bundle of leaves. He called out, "Cynder, is that you?" The rustling stepped as he got closer. He lifted his paw and swiped the leaves aside. A sharp yelp echoed through the nearby trees.

A familiar golden little ball of light flew up to his face. "Seriously, I'm trying to walk here!" It was a dragonfly and his eyes widened at the sight of Spyro's muzzle. He stuttered, "S-S-Spyro, is that you?!"

The purple dragon immediately recognized the little insect. "Sparx?!" They both stood dumbfounded of each other's appearance.

The dragonfly was the first to react, "Wait, no, you can't be Spyro! He died a long time ago! Maybe I'm just imagining things…" He curiously flew up and poked the drake's scales. He gasped, "You are real! You've been alive all this time?"

Spyro thought about running, but there would be no point; he had already seen him. So he confessed, "...Yes. I've been alive for the past two decades." He brought his snout down to the dragonflies' eye level. "I'm sorry Sparx. I should have told you sooner. I understand if you're angry at me, but-" The dragonfly suddenly hugged the dragon's nose.

The dragon's brain froze, not expecting this reaction. Sparx responded, "You don't have to apologize; I'm just glad to see my little brother again."

The drake smiled, "I'm glad to see you too." The long lost brothers stood reunited in the dark shrubbery before they were interrupted.

"All these years later, and we are all finally back together again." The two brothers perked their heads towards the noise, which came from the treetops. Sparx didn't spot anything, but Spyro had already spotted the familiar light-blue eyes piercing through the night's veil of darkness.

"She came…" is what he thought to himself. The black dragoness dropped down behind the dragonfly, not alerting him to her presence. She leaned near his ear and whispered, "Boo!" Sparx let out a high pitched scream. He tried to fly away but ran into a nearby tree. Both dragons couldn't help but let out a chuckle as he floated to the ground. Spyro poked the dragonfly, obtaining no reaction. "Looks like he's out cold."

She appeared concerned, "Will he be okay?"

"I think so, he's survived worse. Here," The purple dragon picked up the unconscious dragonfly, "I'll take him to the cave just over here." He spat a couple of small fireballs to melt the snow and make it easier to plow through. Cynder hesitantly followed behind him. It only took them a couple of seconds to make it back to the mouth of the cave. He carefully laid Sparx to the side and sat next to him. Cynder apprehensively sat next to her mate. She left some distance between the two of them.

Despite the lighthearted moment, nervous silence quickly dampened their joy. Neither of them knew what to say to the other. Spyro noticed that Cynder was fiddling with her claws. He speculated, "She's just as anxious as I am. She and I both know that we need to settle this."

"Cynder?"

She turned towards him. "Yes, Spyro?" She replied.

He gathered his courage, "For the longest time, I've wanted to apologize to you. Everything that's happened to you for the past decade has been because of me. I left...no…I abandoned you. I understand if you don't want anything to do with me. And I don't expect you to forgive me. If you want to leave, I won't stop you." He expected her to let out all of her frustrations. He wanted her to yell at him and tell him how much of a failure he was.

However, "I'll admit that you haven't forgiven you yet. But I don't have any room to speak. I left our son to the dangers of the real world. I let myself fall back into the control of this new Dark Master. I killed those who didn't deserve to die. Of how much I want to be angry, I can only be angry with myself," she said with clear regret on her face.

"Then I guess we both have mistakes to correct." He put his paw on top of hers, "We need to bring our family back together," Spyro declared.

"But I tortured our son! He will not be forgiving of my actions." She lamented, "I can't even forgive myself…"

The purple drake wrapped his wing around her, "We can't change our past mistakes. All we can do is atone for them today. We can repair what we had with Dawn." He contemplated if telling Cynder that her son was partially paralyzed was a good idea.

He decided against it. "Telling her would make her loathe herself even more. Hopefully Amethyst can help him recover quickly," he quietly pondered to himself.

"Spyro...I've missed you for so long. But I just don't know how we're going to do this."

"We'll figure it out. We always have." Cynder scooted closer to the purple dragon and nuzzled him under his chin. Taking the affectionate gesture as a cue, Spyro's tail wrapped around hers. The two lovers cuddled up to each other after being away from each other for so long. The purple dragon kissed the black dragoness on the forehead, who cooed in response.

They both laid next to each other, tails still locked together and both blushing. Before they both slipped into slumber, Spyro whispered into her ear, "I love you."

…

The night was still young as the bloodied and beaten wolf was returning to his pack. He knew that if he was seen that he would suffer dire consequences. But he just needed to grab his family and get out before anyone knew. He was approaching the cave with a cautious gait when a nauseating odor entered his nostrils. "The pack must have brought a kill back and left it rotting. But that's strange, usually there's nothing left after they've eaten," is what he thought. The closer he got, the stronger the stench became. "What could they have eaten that smelled this repulsive?" But when he peeked around the corner, what he saw almost made him gag.

The cave was splotched and smeared with blood. It was everywhere. There were bodies everywhere. Some were in one piece, others were nothing but piles of meat. He stepped inside, taking in the carnage that was presented itself.

"What happened?" He muttered. "Wait! My family!" He rushed over to his hut where his mate and cubs usually resided. "Amelia!" He ripped the curtain of it, not caring whether he tore the delicate fabric. But his heart sunk low when he saw what was inside. His mate had been impaled with a red crystal-like sword. Her face was that of agony. And one of his cubs was next to her. But she had been ripped in two.

Grimm growled, "What kind of monster would kill a cub so young?!"

"I did say I would keep my promise, didn't I?"

The blood wolf snarled in the direction of the voice. "Who's there?"

He heard a chuckle, "You wolves are useless to me. Nothing as pathetic and weak as your kind should be allowed to live." There were two red eyes lighting the somewhat dark cave. They seemed to resonate with evil intent.

"You did this?!" Grimm gestures towards all the death around him. "How dare you? You killed my family you...you monster!"

"Do not worry, I didn't kill your whole family." The figure held out his paw. Grimm's youngest cub laid resting on the pads of his paw. He smirked, "Not yet." He suddenly closed his paw, crushing the young cub. Then he threw their remains on the ground.

The wolves' blood went cold. "I'LL KILL YOU!" The wolf was livid and charged the mysterious figure. His claws were exposed, ready to tear open the intruder. Once he was close enough, he leaped into the air. Yet, he never touched the ground. A sharp stung through Grimm's chest. The blood… the blood from his cub's body had actually solidified and impaled him. "How…did you-"

The creature brought its tail up and pushed his mouth closed, "Shhhh. Just go to sleep, little sheep." Then another blood spike erupted from the puddle and stabbed him through his head.

The creature stepped outside and looked at the moon. He growled under his breath, "Soon, Spyro, you will understand who you truly are. And I will be there when you do." All the blood from the cave started moving and molded itself around the creature. It formed a set of wings and they took off, leaving the smell of death as a warning through the night.

The Darkness has returned and not even the purest of souls can escape its corruption.

The End?

 _ **Oof, it's finally finished! I want to thank you all for reading and investing time in this story. This being my first story, I ask that those who want to review my story, please do. I want to become better at writing and I need your feedback in order to do that. So thank you all for reading this story!**_

 _ **P.S. For all you LoS fans out there, I'm a part of a couple of subreddits called /TheLegendOfSpyro and /Cynder. They're both small but I want to help make these communities a lot bigger!**_

 _ **P.S.S. Let me know if you want more of this story. Obviously, a second book is planned and I'm thinking of doing some side stories and One-Shots**_

 _ **Thank You All So Much, I'll See You In The Next One!**_


	27. DRII Announcement

_**ANNOUNCEMENT**_

 _ **Hello, everyone! I hope you're all doing well. In case you weren't aware, I have started re-writing Darkness Rising II: Lies and Corruption. The first two chapters of the re-write are already out now. This short announcement is just to make you aware.**_

 _ **Once again, I like to thank you all for reading Darkness Rising: New Legends Born. This is just my first fanfiction, but it's received a ton of comments and support; I really appreciate it. Well, if you wish to continue to follow the journey of Dawn and the other guardians, go and check out DRII. I'll see you all there!**_

 _ **This is DonnyFire signing off!**_


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